It was an easy outing for Yuki Bhambri whereas Ramkumar Ramanathan survived a scare in their respective first round games at the Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger here at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) on Tuesday.
The third seed set aside compatriot Sriram Balaji 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the second round. Yuki broke in the very first game of the match and Balaji's weak serve, which included three double faults in the first set, made things easy for his opponent.
Yuki, who appeared to have an issue with his groin, was attended to by the physiotherapist after the first set. Fortunes swung both ways in the second set as Balaji showed more intent. After Yuki gained a 2-0 lead, Balaji hit back in the fourth game to make it 2-2. Yuki then capitalised on a couple of weak returns from Balaji to break again and close out the game.
Ramkumar came back from the brink to prevail 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 against Hugo Grenier of France. Both the players held serve till Ramkumar erred with his faulty backhand in the ninth game to lose set.
The fifth seed Indian seemed to have lost the plot in the second. A double fault and an unforced error saw him concede a break in the third game. Leading 4-2, victory was in sight for Grenier but Ramkumar produced a courageous effort and push the match to the decider. The Indian was at ease in the final set and progressed.
Myneni withdraws
India's Saketh Myneni, a wild card entrant, pulled out of the tournament owing to a shoulder injury.
Results (prefix denotes seedings): First round: 3-Yuki Bhambri (Ind) bt Sriram Balaji (Ind) 6-3, 6-3; 5-Ramkumar Ramanathan (Ind) bt Hugo Grenier (Fra) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; 4-Elias Ymer (Swe) bt Suraj Prabodh (Ind) 6-4, 7-6 (2); Aleksandr Nedovyesov (Kaz) bt Matej Sabanov (Cro) 6-4, 6-1; Ante Pavic (Cro) bt Kaichi Uchida (Jpn) 6-3, 6-4; Tsung-Hua Yang (Tpe) bt Zapata Miralles B (Esp) 7-6 (1), 3-0 retired hurt; Borna Gojo (Cro) bt 2-Adrian Menendez-Macerias (Esp) 6-3, 1-6, 7-5; 1-Blaz Kavcic (Slo) bt Tomislav Brkic (Bih) 6-2, 6-7 (0), 7-6 (6); Pedro Martinez (Esp) bt Naoki Nakagawa (Jpn) 7-6 (5), 6-3; Mario Viella Martinez (Esp) bt Vishnu Vardhan (Ind) 6-3, 6-3.
Doubles: Mikhail Elgin (Rus)/Divij Sharan bt Geoffrey Blancaneaux (Fra)/Jay Clarke (GBR) 5-7, 6-4, (10-5); Nedovyesov/Timur Khabibulin (Kaz) bt Scott Clayton/Jonny O'Mara (GBR) 6-4, 4-6, (10-7); Sumit Nagal/Ymer bt Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan/Vijay Sundar Prashanth 6-4, 1-6, (10-7).
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