arjun2761 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 6:39 am
Ramk wins Q1 of Nonthanburi with a decisive straight set victory over #392 Akita Santillan. Good win for Ramk and hope he qualifies into the main draw.
Just for the record, RamK, then ranked 475, won the Q2 over Makoto Ochi (JPN,487) 64 62 to make the Nonthabri main draw, but unfortunately ran into a red-hot Valendtin Vacherot (MON,219) and lost 46 36 in R1... RamK has been in India since then, in the challenger circuit in February (results in this thread) and a couple of M25/M15 (results in this thread)... He won the Delhi M25 and was the runner-up at the Chandigarh M15.
So his rank is expected to go up from #410 now to inside top-350 in the ATP update after 2 weeks on April 1st.
He was in the entry list for qualies at the Barcelona challenger next week, but just withdrew. Not sure where he will be playing next. I suppose he may wait for the new ranking to come up on Monday and be useful for challenger qualies seeding from the next weekend onward.
^^^ Looks like RamK will only play in Shenzhen challenger, China starting from April 22. He is in the qualifying entry list there. There are 3 challengers in China starting from that week and a challenger in Taiwan in fourth week.
Have never seen RamK take this much of a break anytime in his career though. ( it will be 4 weeks if he plays directly in April 22 week). So, I wont be surprised if he turns up at one of the challenger qualies or something in next couple of weeks or maybe only doubles.
I like that. One of RamK's problems (at least the way I felt it, with no direct info) has always been the constant playing for years, without a break to catch a breath and to also "have a life for himself" away from competition. Maybe I am exaggerating it, and I know that I am saying it without knowing anything about RamK or his personal life. But generally speaking, people need some time for personal reflection and personal growth too. One needs to take breaks from tennis. But more than anything else, RamK needed that for simple physical reasons. He was a workhorse for years, and finally it caught up with him 2 years ago with some physical ailments that affected his tennis. He seems to be out of it now, but all these breaks will only help keep him safe from running into "wear and tear" injury trouble too soon.
So, just get back in good health, ready to get some wins and points in challengers, RamK!
I believe he is #8 in alt list for Madrid challenger qual. He is also in alt list for all ATP qual in the following week (likely, he will not make it in any ATP qual though).
Just read this on twitter from someone who watched today's match-
Ramkumar Ramanathan was just robbed of a match by a terrible chair umpire who in the tiebreak made a terrible correction call, two bad serves by Noguchi called in, and a shot off the line called in
Thats a four point swing .
Actually Ramk has an ankle injury that was the main reason for the Q1 loss last week and this week (and of course RamK never helps himself either)...
I am told he had slipped on some stairs while carrying a heavy bag last week at Shenzen, and had twisted his ankle. It is still not healed. Today, I could see that he could not take proper steps to his right, on multiple points. Actually he even allowed a second serve ace to his right, early in the match, choosing not to take even a step to the right. Lots of double faults too. 6 of them in the first set with only one ace. He was down two breaks soon, and asked for a physio. We could hear him telling the ump that he wants the ankle tape off, as it was too tight and he can't play with it. After a couple of more games, at 2-5, the physios came, and they did not have an ice pack for him. He was also asking for pain tablets, which also they didn't have (heck, carry some Aleve or Advil or whatever tablet with you, RamK!!) ... Anyway, right after the Med T/O, rains came down and it was a 3 hour break, and Berankis took a couple of points to finish off the first set on his serve. 2-6.
On return, RamK was playing quite okay and moving fine for some time, and Berankis was totally off his game. RamK was up a break 3-0, gave it back at 4-3, but then Berankis had another poor service game where he had a double fault and 4 unforced errors, and RamK took the game after a few deuces and 3 BPs. But by now RamK had started questioning line calls and losing focus again. Somehow he came through with his second ace of the match at set point. 26 63...
But the writing the wall was already there, as RamK was going back to line calls 3 or 4 point earlier in the match, and making silly comments and all that usual drama. What s the point, Ram, in talking about earlier points?? When will you learn?? Early in the 3rd set, after losing focus with some line calls yet again, he dropped serve in the second game. Gave Berankis a second life to get his game back, and it was over soon after. 26 63 16
Bad luck follows RamK. Very unfortunate that he got an ankle injury right after showing good form in India, getting his confidence back, and getting healthy after a long 5-week break.
I always feel bad for RamK. He is certainly snake-bit. He often has been, all through his career. But like I was just saying in my short score update at the ITD whatsapp group just now, "if it is not the snake, he bites himself".
RamK should either drop singles altogether and focus on doubles, or get a coach who can fix his on-court drama issues. I still don't believe that it is not fixable, and it is all really rather easy fixes, in my opinion. I don't think he even has a coach or has had one for quite sometime; otherwise, he just cannot be continuing to do everything wrong on court like this.
What a wretched way to wake up on a Sunday for me. He is still the second best singles players we have, and it is painful to see this.
^^ Forgot to mention above that his double-fisted backhand down the line shot that made a rare appearance today. In fact he forced his break point at 3-4 in the second set with that shot. Was great to see. In fact he had hit a really good one-handed backhand before that too, and he was quite successful in buying time with that. In general, that backhand looked much better than I saw on the challenger tour last year.
He needs to become positive in his tennis and hit those shots. I am sure he was doing that in the Indian events, where I assume he was playing in a positive mental frame. A lot of what I see from him on the challenger tour abroad is just negative shot-making, often losing advantage in point construction. He still has the game, but needs a coach to fix his issues.
