Ramkumar Ramanathan advanced to the doubles quarter-finals with Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela in the fifth edition of the Tata Open Maharashtra after beating the pair of Rohan Bopanna and Botic van de Zandschulp 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 11-9 at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune on Tuesday.
The Indo-Mexican duo put in a scintillating performance against a strong opposing team of Indian tennis player, Bopanna, the two-time champion. The thrilling contest saw stiff competition from both sides as both sets were also decided in a tiebreaker before Ramkumar and Reyes-Varela managed to pull the result in their favor at the end of the tiebreak.
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The pair will now face three-time Grand Slam champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, who overcame a challenge from Sebastian Baez-Luis David Martinez 6-3 7-6(1) in their opening encounter.
It was a mixed day for Ramkumar, who battled 6-3 5-7 3-6 against world number 62 Pedro Martinez in a thrilling first-round singles match earlier in the day.
Another Indian pair, N. Sriram Balaji and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, also reached the last 8 after beating Purav Raja and Divij Sharan 6-4, 6-3 in the inter-India clash.
Meanwhile, Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni took on French pair Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul 7-6(1), 5-7, 7-10.
The ongoing edition of the only ATP 250 event in South Asia, is being organized by the Maharashtra State Court Tennis Association (MSLTA) in partnership with the Government of Maharashtra for the fifth year in Pune.
World number 17 Marin Cilic, who was knocked out in the first round in the men’s singles, is in action on Wednesday when he starts his campaign against Roberto Carballes Baena.
Earlier in the day, India’s challenge ended in singles action after Mukund Sasikumar suffered a crushing loss in the round of 16. He lost to Flavio Cobolli 4-6, 5-7.
Other Indian singles players Sumit Nagal and Manas Dhamne feature on Monday.
In other singles matches, 8th seed Aslan Karatsev started the campaign on a high by defeating Pablo Andujar 6-1 6-3. Tim van Rijthoven and Maximilian Marterer also qualified for the second round.
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