Indian Tennis Weekly: Sumit Nagal exits at pre-quarterfinals at Rio de Janeiro Challenger

The pair of YukiSaki also lost in the pre-quarterfinals at the ATP Seoul Challenger.

The last week produced some good results from both the singles and doubles sections but none of the Indian tennis players could win any Challengers. The pair of Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni progressed to the quarterfinals but eventually lost out to the Australian pair at the ATP Seoul Challenger. Sumit Nagal finally came up with some wins in the qualifiers and round match at the Rio de Janeiro Challenger but then ultimately lost in the pre-quarterfinals.

Anirudh Chandrasekhar/Prasanth Sundar

The Indian duo has been progressing at a rapid pace in the rankings with good performances in the 2022 season. In the opening round, the pair beat the Estonian pair K.Saar/Glinka in straight sets (7-6, 6-3). In the quarter-finals, the Indian duo beat the 4th seed Jaziri/Pervolarakis and created an upset (6-4, 7-5).

The semifinals was an even easier contest beating the USA pair of Clark/Perez to progress to the finals but couldn't win the title losing to the top-seeded British pair Patten/Cash comprehensively. Until the finals, the Indian tennis pair did not lose a set showing their complete dominance.

With this result Anirudh inches closer to the 200 rank mark with Prashanth closing down at 250. If the pair continues the same form till the season end then Anirudh the 24-year-old will definitely fall below the 200th rank and shall hope to play the qualifiers of any slam the next year.

Ramkumar Ramanathan

The top-seeded Indian singles player did not have a good week losing the opening round in the doubles and the second round in the singles category at the ATP Ismaning Challenger. Ramkumar for the past few weeks has not been playing the doubles well which can be attributed to regular changes in partners and a lack of inconsistency.

Ram won the opening round in the singles beating Harris of Great Britain in three sets and then lost a close battle to Hallys of France who was the No. 1 seed. The Indian showed good form but couldn't convert the points.

Ramkumar Ramanathan has to not lose points in the doubles with the Australian Open around the corner. He is now ranked close to rank 70 and should look to win more matches to get a direct entry at the Grand Slam.

Sumit Nagal

After a string of opening-round losses Sumit Nagal finally had a few wins to show under his name after winning two qualifying matches and a main-round match. Sumit Nagal in the qualifiers beats seeded pairs who were ideally tough then ultimately lost in the pre-quarterfinals in three sets at the Rio De Janeiro Challenger.

Nagal will continue playing many Challengers till the start of next year and shall look to gain maximum points as possible as his rankings are way below to enter into the qualifying draw of the Australian Open.

Divij Sharan/Purav Raja

The Indian tennis duo did not have a good outing at the ATP Ismaning Challenger losing in the opening round to an unseeded pair of Walkow/Zuk in a hard-fought battle. Divij Sharan was ranked inside the top 75 two years back but since the pandemic, his career has gone downwards.

Divij has again come back to form and has been performing well for the past two months and is in the top 150 in the doubles category. It is highly unlikely for him to make it to the Australian Open but a string of good performances in the next few months can hand him a Grand Slam entry.

Yuki Bhambri/Saketh Myneni

The YukiSaki pair lost in the quarterfinals at the ATP Seoul Challenger. After winning the opening match against the Japanese pair the Indian tennis duo lost to the Australian pair in the tiebreaker.

Also, Yuki Bhambri became the second player after Leander Paes to get into the top 100 in both the singles and doubles categories. If the Indian duo maintain consistency then they can definitely make it to the main draw at the Australian Open.