Ram rocks again, this time in doubles

Chennai, Ramkumar Ramanathan’s good run at the Chennai Open continued today as he combined with compatriot N Sriram Balaji to knock out the fourth-seeded Kiwi pair of Artem Sitak and Marcus Daniel to storm into the doubles quarterfinals today.
The wild card Indian pair came from behind to shock the seasoned New Zealand team 2-6 7-6(5) 10-5 in the opening round.
It was the same Kiwi team that had beaten the Indian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Saketh Myneni in last year’s Davis Cup Asia/Oceania second round. Ramkumar had yesterday shocked world No. 98 Daniel Gimero-Traver 6-2 6-0 in his singles first round.
Ramkumar, who trains in Spain and Balaji, who trains in Germany, came back well after losing the first set.
Indian wild card entrants Somdev Devvarman and Jeevan Nedunchezhian played their hearts out to register a come-from-behind win over Monroe Nicholas of USA and Podlipink-Castillo Hans of Chile 4-6 6-3 10-5.
Stan breezes into quarters
Gunning for a hat-trick of titles, defending champion Stan Wawrinka registered a clinical straight-set win over qualifier Andrey Rublev of Russia to storm into the quarterfinals. The world No. 4 hardly broke his sweat to prevail 6-3 6-2 over his less-fancied opponent in the second-round duel.
In the first match on center court today, 19-year-old Croat Borna Coric saw off the challenge of American Austin Krajicek 6-2 7-5 in 90 minutes. Considered among the most improved youngster on the circuit, Coric compensated for his few unforced errors with his booming serves as he took the first set with a break in the seventh game.
The American fought much better in the second but Coric had every answer to his challenge. It was tight but Coric got the decisive break in the 11th game and sealed the match in the next game.
Anderson withdraws
Ramkumar Ramanathan will not have to face world No. 12 Kevin Anderson for a place in the quarterfinals as the South African has withdrawn due to a knee injury. The 21-year-old Ramkumar will now take on Russia’s 164th ranked Alexander Kudryavtsev, who sneaked into the singles draw as a lucky loser.
“So sorry I’m not able to compete. Was really excited to play for all the Indian tennis fans. I hope to return next year,” Anderson tweeted.