Ramkumar sets up clash with Cilic

Pune, January 2

Making a stupendous start to the new season, Ramkumar Ramanathan stunned higher-ranked Roberto Carballes Baena to set up a second-round clash with world No. 6 Marin Cilic in the Tata Open here today.
The 148th-ranked Ramkumar prevailed 7-6(4) 6-2 over Baena, placed 42 places above him.
“I have a lot of respect for him, I am going to give my best. I want to present a good fight before the home crowd,” said Ramkumar.
“Whatever happens, happens. What you can expect from me is a good fight from the first point to the last.”
When asked about his latest strategy to try more serve and volley, he said: “I felt comfortable coming up to the net. I did whatever I could. Last year, I was doing a lot of serve and volley. The courts here are fast, so why not. I am going to stick to it.”
Frenchman Gilles Simon started the new season with a straight-set victory over Tennys Sandgren.
The 12-time winner on the ATP Tour, who is aiming to regain his form after a difficult last season, beat the American 6-4 6-1 to advance to the second round. The 33-year-old, who dropped from world No. 25 to 89 over the course of last year, will next face third-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.
Qualifier Ricardo Ojeda Lara produced the first big shock of the tournament, beating sixth seed Jiri Vesely in the first round. The 24-year-old Spaniard, who came into the main draw after winning two matches, looked like the man in form as he won 6-3 7-6.
Seventh seed Mikhail Kukushkin beat Moldova’s Radu Albot 6-2 7-6, while eighth seed Pierre-Hugues Herbert fought past Italy’s Marco Cecchinato 7-6 6-7 6-2.
Chile’s Nicolas Jarry also advanced to the second round after beating Spain’s Pablo Andujar 6-7 6-4 7-5.
Vishnu-Balaji out

In the men’s doubles, Indians N Sriram Balaji and Vishnu Vardhan lost to Neal Skupski and Adil Shamasdin 3-6 7-6 10-6.