Tennis

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.

Top-seeded Indian tennis duo Rithvik Bollipalli and Arjun Kadhe advanced to the semifinals of the $133,250 Challenger tournament in Nonthaburi, Thailand, on Thursday. The pair defeated Gabriel Diallo of Canada and Seita Watanabe of Japan 7-6(3), 7-6(5) in a hard-fought doubles quarterfinal.Bollipalli and Kadhe displayed their resilience and determination throughout the match. In the first set, they faced a tough challenge from their opponents, who pushed them to a tiebreaker. However, the Indian duo remained composed and secured the set with a 7-3 victory in the tiebreaker.The second set was equally competitive, with both teams trading blows. Once again, the match went into a tiebreaker, where Bollipalli and Kadhe showcased their superior skills and closed out the set 7-5.Their victory sets up a semifinal clash against Toshihide Matsui of Japan and Ramkumar Ramanathan, who defeated Alejandro Moro Canas of Spain and Marco Trungelliti of Argentina 6-3, 6-4 in the other quarterfinal.In other results from the tournament, Max Houkes of the Netherlands defeated Siddhant Banthia of India 6-2, 6-0 in the singles pre-quarterfinals. Adil Kalyanpur overcame Bharath Kumaran 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, while Karan Singh edged out Denis Spiridon of Italy 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 6-4.In the doubles quarterfinals, Siddhant Banthia and Sai Karteek Reddy defeated Guy Iradukunda of Burundi and Mohamed Safwat of Egypt 6-3, 6-4. Aryan Lakshmanan and Roland Stuurman of the Netherlands beat Nikita Ianin and Grigoriy Lomakin of Kazakhstan 7-6(3), 7-6(5).