Pune ATP 2022

[jayakris]

RamK match is about to start.

[sameerph]

Either he plays more singles or we should not waste wc on him

He wants to play more singles but his ranking is not good enough to play singles at challenger level but his doubles ranking is there.

In any case, we did not have another obvious choice for a wild card and he did play pretty well for this level. So, cannot say a wasted wild card.

[jayakris]

Yes, it was certainly not a wasted WC. heck, a couple of points going the other way in the second tiebreaker could have been enough for Arjun to even win the match. I didn't know that he still had that much singles in him.

[Omkara]

He played well. Better than many other wc in the history of the tournament. He almost won the game. So ya deserves it. All o was saying is that he should be serious about singles too. If he is playing doubles in a challenger, he should play singles qualies too. Once in a while play future with a weak field.

[jayakris]

^^^ Agree. Looks like he should play a bit more singles and see where it takes him; or at least make some additional money from it. Sometimes it is just the motivation and self-belief. Hopefully he got a morale boost from today about singles. He does play some qualies here and there though.

[jayakris]

RamK lost the first set 67(7)... Can he pull a comeback?

RamK quickly went up a break early in the second set and is serving at 4-3

[PKBasu]

Ramkumar is a break up in the second set, after narrowly losing the first 67(7).
And he holds to go up 5-3 in the second set.

[PKBasu]

Yes, it was certainly not a wasted WC. heck, a couple of points going the other way in the second tiebreaker could have been enough for Arjun to even win the match. I didn't know that he still had that much singles in him.

Well, he did beat Mukund in one of those Challenger qualifiers. So he has some singles in him, but chose to skip the Futures in India in November. If you are serious at all about singles, you can't afford to do that sort of thing. He could have dominated the doubles and played some singles in the Futures. Given that he didn't play the Futures, he should NOT have received the singles main draw wildcard here. No problem at all with him getting a doubles wildcard (although Balaji and Jeevan have higher rankings). But the singles wildcard was unfair, as he has received it before too!

[PKBasu]

Ramkumar takes the second set 6-4. Third and final set coming up now!

[jayakris]

Given that he didn't play the Futures, he should NOT have received the singles main draw wildcard here. No problem at all with him getting a doubles wildcard (although Balaji and Jeevan have higher rankings). But the singles wildcard was unfair, as he has received it before too!

Hey, home-state advantage!

Meanwhile, RamK has evened it up at 67(7) 64 00 ... Go Ramk. We want a quarterfinalist.

[jaydeep]

Yes, a missed opportunity for Arjun as he was a mini-break up in the 2nd set tie-break also.

[PKBasu]

Our hosts need to shed this home-state parochialism, and just emphasize home-country advantage. The Indian player likeliest to exploit the wildcard best should get it. That's why I don't mind Arjun getting the doubles wildcard ahead of a couple of other Indians who have slightly better rankings. But in singles there are Sumit, Mukund, Saketh, Sidharth, Manish all ranked higher than Arjun -- apart from Prajnesh, who got a WC after Arjun. That is egregiously unfair and parochial. Arjun could have been given the qualifier singles wildcard, but giving him one for the main draw (AGAIN!!) was plain wrong.

[jayakris]

Oh boy... RamK just dropped serve, and is behind 2-4 in the third with Travaglia serving

[S_K_S]

I think we need a sequel of the famous Hindi move...this time the title would be..."RamK ko itna gussa kyon aata hai!" Crazy thing is he plays better when he is calmer and is not having the arguments. Why do something that you know is going to have a negative impact?

[jayakris]

So true. RamK always plays better when he is calm and just doing his job. When he is angry, he usually messes up. Down 2-5 in the third and serving. now it is 3-5 and he has a last chance to break Travaglia.