India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan saved four match points in a marathon five-setter against Australia’s Marc Polmans but a spot in the Grand Slam...
India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan saved four match points in a marathon five-setter against Australia’s Marc Polmans but a spot in the Grand Slam main draw eluded him yet again as he lost in the final qualifying round at the Wimbledon championships in London on Thursday.
Showing nerves of steel, Ramkumar saved one match point after another but eventually lost 3-6 6-3 6-7(2) 6-3 9-11 to his Australian rival after battling his heart out in a three hour and 30-minute contest.
In the current generation of top Indian players on the ATP circuit, Ramkumar is the only one who is yet to compete in a tennis Major.
It was his 21st attempt to qualify for the main draw of a Grand Slam since 2015.
Ramkumar was down a set and a break when he began his fightback and eventually clawed his way back into the match.
He had several opportunities to break his rival in the third set but squandered them all. However, he kept on fighting and made yet another recovery by racing to a 3-0 lead in the fourth set.
The Indian succeeded in pushing the contest to the deciding fifth set in which he was in danger of getting broken in the fourth game but managed to hold.
He was down a match...
