East Asian Challengers, 2019

[jayakris]

Nice win with an ending flourish for RajaRam. They were down 2-6 in the STB, but won 7 in a row to get a match point, and then converted their second MP.

At the $54K(+H) Kobe Challenger, Japan

[QF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) d. Jisung Nam (KOR)/ Min-Kyu Song (KOR), 75 26 [10-7]
so,
[SF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Yosuke Watanuki (JPN)

Also,
[QF] (9) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,199) vs (2) Yuichi Sugita (JPN,107)

[RohitG]

Will face Sugita who is looking to seal his AO main draw entry in his home country. Last event of the season for him and he needs to at least make the finals. RamK has Pune next week, so his season is yet to finish. Will this finally be the turnaround he needs desperately? A couple of deep runs can fetch him good points which won't need defending till end of tour level events next year. This is actually the best time to hit it.
Of course, the other side to this, a pessimistic view in current context, is if Sugita loses, he might enter the AO wildcard playoff as the top seed. But that discussion is based on many ifs, not sure how many of our guys will be entering it in the first place

[jaydeep]

After a long time, this is a really good comfortable win for Ram against Clarke with a solid game ... Awaits for Sugita test.

[punarayan]

Wonderful to read about some classic tennis played by RamK. Jay's write-up was a pleasure to read. Hope RamK keeps this up, and doesn't revert to hanging out 10 feet behind the base line and chasing balls endlessly. Nothing like a sharply hit forehand cross court.

[sameerph]

Excellent win by RamK. I think his first win over player ranked higher than him since January 2019 when he beat Granollers. Hope he has got the confidence back to upset Sugita next.

[vparam]

Excellent win by RamK. I think his first win over player ranked higher than him since January 2019 when he beat Granollers. Hope he has got the confidence back to upset Sugita next.

That's correct sameeph. I referenced last month in another thread that Ram K. had not defeated a higher ranked opponent since his victory against Granollers in Chennai. Anyway, great to finally see him win a match he wasn't expected to. Let's hope this at last gives him some confidence to play well tomorrow and end the season on a high note.

[jayakris]

At the $54K(+H) Kobe Challenger, Japan

[QF] (9) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,199) vs (2) Yuichi Sugita (JPN,107), 26 00

Trade of breaks to start the match for RamK. He broke Sugita after a deuce to start, helped by a DF and some deft shots from RR. But after serving aces to go 40-0, RR still faced multiple deuces and dropped serve (I have never seen anybody drop serve in a game after serving FIVE aces, like he just did). 1-1 .... Volleys and drop shots do NOT work on Sugita who is extremely mobile and WILL hit a winner that you cannot touch, once he reaches the ball. That continued, as RR was broken in game 4, helped by a return winner, a DF and two more passing shots by Sugita. The Japanese is playing very well and slapping the ball to precise points just like we wants. RR unable to do anything on YS' serve, despite a couple of good returns. 1-4. RR served two more aces and held in the 6th game. 2-4. That is 9 aces and two service winners by RR in three service games, but he was still broken twice. That says all about how the match is going, If the ball is in play, Sugita will win it 4 out of 5 without any problem. I feel bad for RamK, who is actually playing quite okay. But Sugita is just too good today. In the 8th game, RR didn't serve any aces - which meant he would go down 0-40 and would get broken at 15-40 for the set. RamK is pushing a bit on his shots now, knowing what Sugita can do, and that means he will hit things out. Anyway, the set is gone in a hurry.

[PKBasu]

RamK started so well on his birthday, breaking serve in the first game. But it's been downhill since then, and he is now 1-4 down in the first set. Sugita (who was ranked #36 two years ago, after winning the Antalya Open on grass -- yes, the same tournament in which RamK beat Dominic Thiem) is a tough opponent.

[jayakris]

Some good returns and aggressive shots from behind by RR against YS' serve to start the second set, but YS held at 30. RamK needs to stop going up to the net and not moving at all - as it makes it easy for YS to pass him, and YS is just tremendous with the passing shots. 15-30, 30-40 BP. Service winner, deuce. RR all pumped up and screaming. Ad in, and service winner. 1-1 even. I like the spirit RR is showing; not folding. Finally a 17-shot rally won by RR and it is 30-40 BP on YS' serve. Wonderful S&V from YS. Deuce. Finally a couple of sub-par shots from YS and it is a break! 2-1 ... That didn't last long though. A DF, an unlucky net-chord, and a smashing FH from YS, and it is 0-40 on RR's serve. Broken again on a second serve return winner by YS. RR also trying hard for a break. A nice return winner, and some good shot-making by RR, but YS held at 30. RamK is certainly trying to do his best, but his opponent is just too tough. 2 more aces and a 11-shot rally point helped RR to hold... 3-3... RR had a 30-40 BP on YS but hit the 12th shot in a rally a half foot too long, and YS wriggled out of the jam; 3-4. Now RR picks the worst time for a dumb move to the net (and again not moving and standing there blankly, allowing YS to pass him to wherever he wants). And a hard return of serve and a DF. Suddenly 0-40 and he is broken. YS held at 15 and won the match.

Not sure how much I want to criticize RamK today. He did give away a few points on poor shots, and made a few dumb mistakes that he continues to make in his forays to the net (not way too many, though). But he was not giving up. He served quite well. He did try to change things up a bit and he did hit some good shots. One of those days... when the opponent is in a pretty good zone.

But really, RamK's coach needs to fix the issue of him moving up and standing put somewhere, making it so easy for the opponent to pass him. That part of the game is again never improving. After slow volleys from RR, that too, where YS could slowly move up, take his time for a nice back-swing, and hit to somewhere in the wide open court. Come on! Change the coach, RamK. Or get one more coach for daily dissection of your matches.

At the $54K(+H) Kobe Challenger, Japan

[QF] (9) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,199) l. (2) Yuichi Sugita (JPN,107), 26 36

[jayakris]

At the $54K(+H) Kobe Challenger, Japan

[SF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) d. Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Yosuke Watanuki (JPN), 63 64

Nice run in doubles, and I feel Purav and RamK complement each other very well. A lot of power shots from RR and some uncanny skills from Purav (who is really good in his ball placement instincts and volleys). It is good week for RamK to get to the final and earn 48 points, as 65 points from last year's Bratislava challenger final fall off this Monday. A title will be great too.

[sameerph]

RamK and Purav have won the first set 76(6) in the final against second seeds Rungkat and Goransson. Good comeback after being 1-3 down. Not seen RamK play doubles much but towards the end of first set which I saw he appeared the best of the 4 players on view.

[sameerph]

And they complete the win and a challenger title.

At the $54K(+H) Kobe Challenger, Japan

[F] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) d. (2) Christopher Rungkat (INA) /Andre Goransson (SWE) 76(6) 63

Third challenger title for RamK and second for the year. As RamK has points to defend, he will only move up 1 spot to 134 in the ranking while Purav will move back into top 100 at #93.

[jayakris]

Not seen RamK play doubles much but towards the end of first set which I saw he appeared the best of the 4 players on view.

I had watched him in a few games and I am also pretty impressed with RamK. No doubt in my mind that he has at least a top-25 quality in doubles. He and Purav have a lot of complementing skills too. I missed today's final, but it was tremendous fun to watch them play the previous couple of matches.

It was a great time for RamK to pick up a title and defend all of the points from a runner-up finish last year (and get some extra). I think he has some more to defend, for the Pune title last year. But hardly much for the first half of next year. Most of his doubles points came in the recent few months.

[Ullhas]

For RamK, 2019 has been a dismal year in singles but a phenomenal one in doubles. He reached 5 finals winning 2 of it. Would be interesting to see how he starts in 2020. If his struggle i singles continues, may be he should focus on his doubles game and try to get entry into ATP tour with improved rankings.

[RohitG]

... he might enter the AO wildcard playoff as the top seed. But that discussion is based on many ifs, not sure how many of our guys will be entering it in the first place

RamK and Sasi did. Top 3 seeds being Ito, Jung and Istomin. Nobody in Qualifying but Rawat and Kadhe are #4 and #5 as alternates in it. Was hoping for Sumit to give it a shot.