Ramkumar Ramanathan Bows Out of Hangzhou Challenger in Pre-Quarterfinals

Indian tennis star Ramkumar Ramanathan's impressive run at the $164,000 Challenger tournament in Hangzhou, China, came to an end in the pre-quarterfinals. The top-seeded Australian James Duckworth proved too strong for Ramanathan, defeating him in straight sets 6-4, 7-5.

Ramanathan, ranked 225th in the world, had a promising start to the tournament, winning his first-round match in straight sets. However, he faced a stern test against Duckworth, who is ranked 82nd in the ATP rankings.

In the first set, Ramanathan held his serve comfortably until the ninth game, when Duckworth broke his serve to take a 5-4 lead. The Australian then held his serve to clinch the set.

The second set was a closely contested affair, with both players holding their serves until the 12th game. Duckworth once again broke Ramanathan's serve, this time to take the set 7-5 and secure his place in the quarterfinals.

Despite the defeat, Ramanathan's performance in Hangzhou is a positive sign for his season. He has shown that he can compete with top-ranked players and is capable of making deep runs in Challenger tournaments.

In other results from the tournament, Ugo Blanchet of France and Billy Harris of Great Britain advanced to the quarterfinals of the doubles competition with a 6-3, 7-6(6) victory over Rithvik Bollipalli and Arjun Kadhe of India.

Tags: #tennis, #challenger, #hangzhou, #ramkumarramanathan, #jamesduckworth