Ramkumar wins first round qualifier at U.S. Open

Ramkumar Ramanathan defeated World No. 213 Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of U.S. Open Qualifying on Wednesday.

Ramkumar Ramanathan overpowered Paul-Henri Mathieu at the U.S. Open qualifiers.

Ramkumar Ramanathan defeated World No. 213 Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of U.S. Open Qualifying on Wednesday.

The new India No. 1 slammed 16 aces and committed zero unforced errors in a 68-minute encounter against the hapless Frenchman. Mathieu, a former top-20 player served six double faults and had only two winners throughout the match.

The World No. 156 will face another Frenchman, Nicolas Mahut, in the second round. The doubles specialist has been in good form and is likely to pose a tougher challenge for the Indian in the second round.

The Chennai-based player is the only Indian remaining in the fray with both Yuki Bhambri and Prajnesh Gunneswaran crashing out in the first round of qualifiers on Tuesday.

Yuki Bhambri went down 6-4, 1-6, 3-6 to Japan’s Go Sodea while Prajnesh Gunneswaran suffered a 1-6, 4-6 defeat against Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann.