Ramkumar Ramanathan aims to extend winning streak at ITF Davanagere men's World Tennis Tour

Unseeded Ramkumar Ramanathan faces tough competition in US $15,000 tournament

Ramkumar Ramanathan, who clinched the Dharwad Men's World Tennis Tour title last Sunday, is eager to maintain his winning momentum as he competes in the ITF Davanagere Men's World Tennis Tour. The main round of this tournament begins at the District Tennis Association Davanagere courts starting on Tuesday.

Despite his recent victory, the 28-year-old Ramkumar starts the tournament as an 'unseeded' player. Nick Chappell from the USA holds the top seed in a competitive field vying for a total prize pool of US$15,000. Bogdan Bobrov is seeded second, and Digvijay Pratap Singh is the highest-seeded Indian at No.3. Florent Bax from France is seeded fourth, while Sidharth Rawat is the fifth seed. SD Prajwal Dev, Rishab Agarwal, and Niki Poonacha round out the top eight seeds.

The singles champion will receive US$2,160 and 15 ATP points, while the runner-up will earn US$1,272 and eight ATP points.

Wildcards for the main draw were awarded to Manish Ganesh, Suraj Prabodh, Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan, and Ajay Malik.

In the meantime, eight qualifiers have secured spots in the main draw, with top seed Atharva Sharma prevailing with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory over Matthew Woerndle from Australia. An unseeded Adil Kalyanpur caused a stir by overcoming the third-seeded Chirag Duhan in a grueling battle that lasted over two hours, ending 6-7 (3), 6-1, 15-13. In another captivating match, Tushar Madan secured a 3-6, 7-6 (10), 11-9 victory over the seventh seed, Shivank Bhatnagar, in 1 hour and 56 minutes.

Seedings:1. Nick Chappel (USA)2. Bogdan Bobrov3. Digvijay Pratap Singh4. Florent Bax (FRA)5. Sidharth Rawat6. SD Prajwal Dev7. Rishab Agarwal8. Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha

Results:

Qualifying Round 2 (Countries other than India are mentioned in brackets):

• (1)Atharva Sharma defeated (11) Matthew Woerndle (AUS) 7-6 (5), 6-3.
• (2)Raghav Jaisinghani beat (10) Jagmeet Singh 6-3, 6-3.
• (WC) Adil Kalyanpur overcame 3-Chirag Duhan 6-7 (3), 6-1, 15-13.
• (5) Kabir Hans defeated (13) Parth Aggarwal 6-2, 6-2.
• (6) Madhwin Kamath won against (9) Sandesh Dattatray Kurale 6-3, 6-1.
• (16)Tushar Madan secured a victory over (7) Shivank Bhatnagar 3-6, 7-6 (10), 11-9.
• (8)Rohan Mehra beat (15) Arjun Mahadevan 6-3, 6-4.
• (4)Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta defeated (12) Yash Chaurasia 7-6 (8), 6-3.