Ramkumar Ramanathan goes down to lower-ranked opponent in second round of ATP Guzzini Challenger

Ramkumar Ramanathan lost in the second round of the ATP Guzzini Challenger in Recanati, Italy, on Thursday. Seventh seeded Italian Salvatore Caruso defeated the Indian No 1 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5 in two hours and 37 minutes.

In a closely-fought first set, in which both players recorded a service break each before taking it to a tie-break, it was Ramanathan who prevailed 7-5. But it didn’t take long for his opponent to turn the pulse of the match around. Ramanathan faced a solitary break point on his serve in the second set, but was unable to save it, which allowed Caruso to level the match at a set-all.

Ramanathan, who recently reached a career high of 184th in the men’s singles ranking after his exploits in the Antalya Open, gained the upper hand once again in the final set. He took the lead by breaking Caruso’s serve in the sixth game to go up 4-2.

The next three games saw the pair exchange service breaks, one of which came when Ramanathan was serving for the match at 5-3. A final break of Ramanathan’s serve in the 11th game put paid to his efforts as Caruso, ranked 16 places below him in the rankings, consolidated the break in the 12th game to win the match.

Ramanathan finished the match winning 67% of his first-serve points, 50% points off his second serves and 34% points on return. Caruso, meanwhile, won 73% points on his first serve, 56% points on his second serves and 40% points on return.