ATP Singapore 2021

[PKBasu]

So there will be 8 seeds in singles who get byes into R2, another 16 direct entrants into the main draw, and 4 qualifiers. We have two direct entrants in the main draw, Yuki Bhambri and Ramkumar Ramanathan. The R1 will be among players outside the top-100, so Yuki and Ramkumar should be able to pull off R1 wins if they are in reasonable form.

[sameerph]

Yuki and Jeevan also got into doubles main draw and Jeesn posted that he has reached Singapore and will be playing his first match after almost a year.

So, we now have 4 pairs involving Indians in doubles main draw - RamK/Purav, Yuki/Jeevan, Rohan/Ben and Balaji/ Margaroli.

[arjun2761]

Not expecting much from Yuki in singles here as he is playing competitively after 2 years and he is very unlikely to have either the physical or game fitness to compete at this level. However, will not be surprised if he and Jeevan are competitive in doubles.

[sameerph]

Jeevan is also playing for the first time after a year. So, I do not expect much from doubles either. Just expect Yuki to kave a decent hit here and gain some confidence. Anything more is bonus.

[PKBasu]

I don't think a "decent hit" will be acceptable. He has seemingly spent a lot of time on his fitness over the past year. The tennis will be rusty, since he hasn't been able to hit with players at the ATP or Challenger level (perhaps not even really against high level Futures players). But he needs to win points whenever he uses his protected ranking, so he will have to aim to at least win a round each in singles and doubles.

[PKBasu]

Bopanna 2-2 in the opening set against Eubanks in Q1. He's already done better than the Singapore wildcard Hobbs, who lost 16 16 to JP Smith

[PKBasu]

Bopanna is broken in the 8th game, and it's 3-5 in the opening set now.
Eubanks holds to take the first set 6-3.

[PKBasu]

RB is fading in the second set. Eubanks is still ranked close to Bopanna's career-high singles ranking. It is 3-6, 1-3 now.

[Omkara]

RB is fading in the second set. Eubanks is still ranked close to Bopanna's career-high singles ranking. It is 3-6, 1-3 now.

And RB is forty years old

[PKBasu]

[Q1] Rohan Bopanna (IND, UNR) l. Christopher Eubanks (USA, 239) 36 46

Beaten but not disgraced. Great stuff from the 40 year old!

[arjun2761]

Yes, there are some advantages to having a good serve especially if the surface is quick (but not sure if this is a quick surface). He held his serve 7 out 9 times which is pretty good. In the return game, he won only 9 of 50 points with no break points.

[Omkara]

Yes, there are some advantages to having a good serve especially if the surface is quick (but not sure if this is a quick surface). He held his serve 7 out 9 times which is pretty good. In the return game, he won only 9 of 50 points with no break points.

Always.... Big serve helps. Look at Somdev Vs Isner post their college careers.

[Dinesh]

Draw is set. Yuki plays Australian Matt Ebden who is vying for his first grand slam title in the AO Mixed doubles event with partner Sam Stosur in a couple of hours. Matt failed to qualify for the AO main draw losing to fellow Aussie Jason Kubler in the very first round. Yuki couldn't have asked for a better opening match.

RamK plays Taro Daniel, one of those random ATP title winners, yet ranked outside of top-100.

[PKBasu]

At age 33, Matt Ebden may be past his prime as a singles player, but he was ranked 39 in singles just over 2 years ago. So it will not be an easy match for a rusty Yuki Bhambri.
In doubles, Balaji/Margaroli have the easiest R1, against the Singaporean wildcards, neither of whom is even a decent Futures-level player.
Yuki/Jeevan face 4th seeded Ebden/JP Smith in R1 of doubles. A pretty tough match, but not impossible for our pair.
2nd seeded RB/McLachlan play Martinez (of Venezuela) and David Hernandez (ESP, 114 in doubles) in R1, and are drawn to play Balaji/partner in R2 (the QF).
Ramkumar/Purav play Kwon/Uchiyama in a winnable R1 match.

I like Ramkumar's chances of pulling off a victory over Taro Daniel.

[PKBasu]

If Ramkumar wins his R1 match, he will get to play 3rd seeded Marin Cilic in R2. If Yuki wins his R1 match, he will play 2nd seed John Millman in R2. Tough!