Ramkumar, Myneni beaten in Pune event

PUNE: Local favourite Arjun Kadhe stunned second seed Ramkumar Ramanathan for the biggest victory of his career while fast-emerging Sasi Kumar Mukund knocked out last week’s runner-up Saketh Myneni at the KPIT-MSLTA Challenger here on Tuesday.

This is the best win for Kadhe in terms of beating a higherranked player as he sent packing world No 130 Ramkumar 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round of the hard court tournament.

Prior to Tuesday’s win, the most significant win for the 370thranked Kadhe was against world No 200 Pedja Krstin.

It has been a tough season for Ramkumar and it ended with a whimper. Kadhe who is playing his second season after returning from US Collegiate circuit, was fluent with his strokes, especially the deep returns.

Sasi Kumar Mukund, who has a stiff back, pulled off a big win over Myneni, beating his bigserving opponent 6-4, 7-6(1) after saving a set point in the opening game.

Prajnesh Gunneswaran, the new number one player of the country, had a tough first round in which he prevailed 6-4. 6-4 against Taipei’s Tsung-hua Yang.

‘INDIA WILL HAVE PSYCHOLOGICAL EDGE’

PUNE: The Indian players may not be formidable on grass but playing Italy on that surface will give the hosts a psychological advantage, reckons Davis Cup coach Zeeshan Ali.

To qualify for the inaugural 24-team Davis Cup Finals, India need to beat Italy which boasts four top-100 players, led by world No 13 Fabio Fognini.

“Playing on clay or hard is going to be difficult. The surface on which we have the best chance against them is grass. It is not about whether our players are good on grass or not, but they are better against them playing on grass than on clay or hard,” said Zeeshan.