Tennis News: As a result of Ramkumar Ramnathan’s defeat to Viktor Durasovic in the second singles match at Lillehammer, Norway, the Indian team is now facing a humiliating loss in their Davis Cup World Group I First Round match. Ramkumar, the top singles player for India, fell short of expectations on Friday night as he lost to lower-ranked opponent Durasovic by scores of 1-6 and 4-6. The onus was on Ramkumar to keep India in the tie by winning the second match after Prajnesh Gunneswaran’s loss against world No. 2 and US Open runner-up Casper Ruud by a score of 1-6, 4-6, which was an expected outcome in the first singles.
Ramkumar, who is rated 276 in the world, was no match for Durasovic, who is ranked 325, who broke Ramkumar’s serve three times and delivered 12 aces to just three for his Indian opponent at the indoor Hakons Hall Hard Court venue.
In the opening set, Durasovic delivered five aces and twice broke Ramkumar’s serve. Ramkumar was only able to hold his opening service in the first set to tie the score at one, and from that point on it was all Durasovic. Ramkumar also had two double errors, which made matters worse for him as Durasovic easily won the opening set.
In the second set, Ramkumar made an effort to rally, but he was unable to hold his second service game, giving Durasovic a 2-1 advantage. As Durasovic hit seven aces, the Indian was unable to break his serve. Durasovic maintained his serve to win the game with a score of 5-4.
Earlier on Friday, Norway took a 1-0 lead over India as world no. 2 Casper Ruud easily defeated Prajnesh Gunneswaran.
After losing to Carlos Alcaraz on Monday at the US Open, Ruud finished in second place. Four days later, he reported for national duty and performed well for his squad. In an hour and two minutes, he defeated the Indian, who was rated 335th, 6-1, 6-4.
Prajnesh improved his performance in the second set after being completely outplayed in the first to make Ruud’s job harder. The more skilled opponent won three of his five break point opportunities while the Indian was unable to do so.
In the doubles on day two, Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni will compete against Ruud and Durasovic. Ramkumar will compete against Ruud in the reverse singles, which will also be played on Saturday, while Prajnesh will go up against Durasovic.
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