Ramkumar Ramanathan served big and stroked with intelligence to turn the tide in the nick of time in both sets as he knocked out the champion of the last tournament Stefano Napolitano 7-6(5), 7-6(5) in the first round of the $133,250 Maha Open Challenger tennis tournament at the Balewadi Stadium on Tuesday.
After the champion of the Chennai Challenger, Sumit Nagal, had perspired to a 7-6(6), 6-4 victory over Yu Hsiou Hsu of Chinese Taipei on the centre court, fans stayed on to cheer Ramkumar.
The 28-year-old Ramkumar, who was once ranked 111, as against his current 462, did have a slow start. However, he stepped it up whenever required, especially with his serve.
