American hardcourt Challengers 2017

[arjun2761]

Saw parts of the first set, and Yuki looked quite lethargic in that set -- he seems that way in many of his matches. Sarkissian is an average player with average groundies and serve but does get the ball back and Yuki does not fare well with players like that. In fact, looking at Yuki's energy level in the first set, was mildly surprised that he took the match to 3 sets.

[jaydeep]

Yuki is facing an Ecquadorian player in the first round and next can meet Denis Shapovalov if both players win their first round matches.

At $100K Granby Challenger 2017, Canada

[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,212) vs Roberto Quiroz (ECU,238)

[jaydeep]

RamK is 3rd seed and facing British youngster in the first round.

At $75K Binghamton Challenger 2017, New York, USA

[R1] (3) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,168) vs Cameron Norrie (GBR,277)

[PKBasu]

Both have winnable R1 match-ups. Let's go RamK and Yuki.

[jaydeep]

RamK with his Israeli partner Bar lost in very closely fought two tie-breaks against American pair in the first round.

At $75K Binghamton Challenger 2017, New York, USA

[R1] Dekel Bar (ISR)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Denis Kudla (USA)/ Daniel Nguyen (USA) 67(5) 67(9)

[sameerph]

RamK lost the first set 67 (3) against Norrie.

Games went without too much trouble to server till 10th game when RamK faced 3 set points at 4-5, 0-40. RamK saved all those breakpoints to hold and then broke Norrie immediately to go up 6-5. But, he missed a couple of set points of his own on serve and got broken.

Norrie dominated the tiebreak.

Norrie looks a solid player. RamK needs to dig deep to get back from here

[Rajiv]

Yes Norrie looked ominous in his R1 doubles match.
Yes Norrie had beaten Ram in their last meeting.

But still Ram had no business to loose this match,appeared very slow and made numerous errors which was unlike Ram we know of.

Strange and surprising loss this.
Next couple of weeks  he plays ATP ,and if he plays like today against the big boys he would not stand much of a chance.

Hope it is just an aberration and gets back soon to his level of play which has got him this far.

[jaydeep]

Surprised by RamK's straight sets loss against Norrie ... In the first set, at 4-5 down RamK saved 3 set points ... After losing the tie-break it seems RamK was flat and lose the second set convincingly.

At $75K Binghamton Challenger 2017, New York, USA

[R1] (3) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,178) vs Cameron Norrie (GBR,275) 67(3) 26

[sameerph]

Yes, RamK was listless after losing the first set. Making tonnes of errors and not serving as well too.I guess it may due to playing a lot recently. Apart from physical part, it must be difficult to get oneself up and motivated week after week. A couple of weeks of break every now and then can get the player refreshed. Just my view.

[PKBasu]

Yuki leads 5-3 in the first set against Quiroz.
Yuki converted the first break point he had. Otherwise, nothing to write home about his game today. His inside-out forehand remains potent, as do some of his backhand passing shots. Serve occasionally good. But drop shots are wasted. And he doesn't sustain rallies. Quite a lot of unforced errors too.
Yuki wastes a set point with an unforced error (on a routine inside-out forehand), and then is broken (conceded a break point with a poor volley, then got lobbed on the next point). 5-5
Quiroz holds after one deuce. 5-6
Yuki saves a break (and set) point before holding. 6-6
Tiebreak: 0-1 (Yuki dominated the point then hit a passing shot narrowly out).
1-1, good serve, 1-2 (mini break, poor backhand into net).
1-3, 1-4, 2-4, 3-4, 3-5, 3-6, 4-6. Missed a bit of the action, but Yuki lost the tiebreak.

He is broken in the first game of the second set at 30, with a terrible UFE at break point. 0-1.
I will stop watching now. It's been downhill since I started watching...

[sameerph]

Yuki lost the first set 67(4). Poor play from Yuki missing a set point at 5-4, 40-30 and then letting go the first set with lots of errors. He is just not willing to rally much and tries to go for winners after 2-3 shots in the rallies and ends up making errors.

[PKBasu]

Yuki breaks back (as Quiroz double faults on the break point). 2-2
In the previous game, Yuki fought back from 0-40 by playing some longer rallies and serving well.
Yuki holds at 30. 3-2 second set.
(One feature of Yuki's game today is that when pushed to the corners, he slices on both the forehand and backhand side, often flubbing the shot).
Yuki holds after being 15-40 down. 4-3 (Yuki has saved 7 break points in the match so far).
Finally, a really good game from Yuki, excellent groundies on both flanks. He breaks at 15. 5-3
Yuki holds at 30, and wins the second set 6-3

[PKBasu]

[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,201) d. Roberto Quiroz (ECU,238) 67(4) 63 61

Third set:
Quiroz down 0-40 after some fine play by Yuki. Makes it 30-40, but is then broken in a nice 9-shot rally by Yuki. 1-0
Yuki holds at 30. 2-0
Quiroz holds at 15. 2-1
(Quiroz made the QF at the Medellin Challenger two weeks ago, where he made the doubles final; he is ranked 210 in doubles).
Yuki holds at 15 (with two aces). 3-1
Yuki breaks after one deuce. 4-1
Yuki holds at love (including a beautiful serve-volley at 30-0). 5-1
Yuki breaks again, at 30 to win the match! 6-1

[PKBasu]

Yuki finally came into his own after the 7th game of the second set, and then dominated the rest of the match (winning 8 of the next 9 games). He seemed tentative in the first set, unsure of his ground-strokes (and hitting many of his trade-mark shots out). But he gained confidence after fighting back from a break down in the second set, and was his real self in the latter half of the match. Phew!

[sameerph]

Yes, from mid of second set onwards, he was way better than the way he played in the first set. He was willing to bide his time to play a winner and proved too good for Quiroz. With a little more focus, he would have won this match in easy straight sets.