Ram banishes Alexander

Chennai, A gutsy Ramkumar Ramanathan fought back after a sluggish start to pull off an inspiring win over Alexander Kudryavtsev and enter the quarterfinals of the Chennai Open here today.
The wildcard entrant worked his way to a 3-6 6-4 6-4 win over the higher-ranked Russian. This will be his first quarterfinal appearance on the ATP Tour. The Chennai youngster will face world No. 45 Aljaz Bedene of Britain, who defeated Luca Vanni 5-7 6-3 6-4.
The win meant that Ramkumar is now unbeaten in his last 12 matches. He had won two ITF Futures titles at the end of the 2015 season in Gwalior and Mumbai.
He had shocked world No. 98 Daniel Gimelo-Traver in the first round here.
After losing the first set, Ramkumar changed the complexion of the match with his grit and doggedness. He improved as the match progressed and, egged on by the fans, managed to down a strong opponent.
“Alexander is a great player, goes for his shots. He made me run, it was not easy but I found my way,” said the 21-year-old Ramkumar.
Earlier, Italian qualifier Thomas Fabbiano created the biggest upset of the tournament when he ousted sixth seed Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 6-4 7-5 in 77 minutes.
Muller became the second seeded player to have been shown the door after seventh seed Vasek Pospisil lost to unseeded Bedene yesterday. Fabbiano meets third seed Benoit Paire in the quarterfinals tomorrow.
World No. 19 Paire was pushed by Lukas Rosol, ranked 55, and faced some anxious moments but the Frenchman remained focused to win 7-5 7-5.
Paes forced out after partner falls ill
Leander Paes will not take further part in the tournament with his men’s doubles partner Marcel Granollers falling ill. The second seeds were to play the quarterfinals later today.
“It is a huge disappointment for me that I won’t be able to play in front of my home crowd. I hope Marcel gets fit in time for the Australian Open,” said Paes.