Pune: Wednesday is a big-ticket day at the Tata Open Maharashtra with the two top Indian singles players taking on seeded opponents in the second round for a place in the quarter-finals.
Ramkumar Ramanathan will play top seed and former two-time champion Marin Cilic in his opener, while Yuki Bhambri will face eighth seed Pierre-Hughes Herbert in his second match in as many days.
Both sets have never played each other in an ATP event before. However, both Indians seemed confident of their chances in this early test at India’s season-opening ATP tournament.
With the strong seasons the two have had last year and the zealous crowd support in the city, the two would fancy their chances going into the big matches.
Doubles specialist Herbert, ranked 81 in the world, could prove to be a tough challenge for the India No 1, who will have to play three matches in a span of 24 hours.
Crunch schedule for Bhambri
After finishing his first-round match where he beat local wildcard Arjun Kadhe 6-3, 6-4 late Tuesday evening, he will take on Herbert at 2.30 pm on Wednesday owing to his doubles match with partner Divij Sharan later in the day.
The Frenchman himself had a gruelling season-opener, beating Marco Cecchinato 7-6 (4), 6-7(2), 6-2 on Monday and partnering with Gilles Simon in the doubles on Tuesday.
“He is someone we know has done well in doubles, is a multiple Grand Slam champion and has done quite good in singles as well It’s going to be tough,” Bhamri said about his next-round opponent.
“I think the conditions favour him a bit. He serves and volleys well [in the] faster conditions here, [but] I feel confident. I have played a lot of matches here. If I can stay close I think I have a very good chance of winning,” he added.
While the courts may be new, Bhambri does have an excellent record in Pune. Tuesday was his 11th win in a row at the Balewadi Stadium, having won the Challenger event in 2015 and 2017.
The 26-year-old Indian also seemed to have adjusted to the pace of the court well as he mixed his serves and groundstrokes to good effect against Kadhe on Tuesday. While Herbert has the kind of serve that can trouble Bhambri, he has shown that he has the agility to return from all over the court. On his part, he will have to pick his own serve a notch to really trouble the Frenchman.
Bhambri last reached the quarters in Chennai back in 2014 while Herbert is looking for his first quarterfinals since Newport last July.
Ramkumar confident against Cilic
In the second big game of the day, Ramkumar is not overawed by the task at hand and has promised a tough fight right from the start against the world No 6.
“I have a lot of respect for him, I am going to give my best and fight in front of our home crowd. Whatever happens will happen, but what you can expect from me is a good fight from first point to last point,” the 148th-ranked player said after his 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 first-round win over higher-ranked Roberto Carballes Baena on Monday.
Ramkumar himself is experimenting a lot more with the serve-and-volley game here in Pune and has singled it out as one of his weapons against top players. It was his powerful serve that had got the better of Dominic Thiem to give the 23-year-old his biggest career-win in Antalya last June.
“Last year I was doing a lot of serve and volley, and I think it helped my game, so why not? The courts are playing fast and bouncy and under the lights with the crowd... If I can hit some good volleys it can turn the momentum on. I am going to keep doing it whenever I feel comfortable,” the Indian who last reached the quarters here two years ago, said.
“After a serve most of the times I am getting an easy volley, so I am able to finish it. I am able to do it under pressure as well which is a good sign. Against good players, you must put the volley away so I feel comfortable in the net more in the last year so whatever works on the day, I’ll do it,” he added.
The Chennai player had lost to Bhambri the last time he played here, in the final of the Pune Challenger, and said he has learned a lot from that match. “I took a few important points from that [match] and small things really count,” he added.
However, taking on Grand Slam champion and a consistent top-10 player so early in the tournament is not going to be easy, but it certainly isn’t unsurmountable. He can take heart from the fact that the Croatian was stunned in his opener last year in Chennai as we went down 7-6, 5-7, 7-5 to qualifier Jozef Kovalik.
If he can trouble Cilic, who moves as well as anyone on court but is playing his first match of the season, with his serve and carve a space for himself early, he could take the fight to his 6’6”-tall opponent. Going head to head with a top-10 player will be a good learning curve for the 23-year-old who made rapid strides in 2017 and is building on the momentum.
The other top-billing matches of the day are defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut vs Gilles Simon and Kevin Anderson vs Thiago Monteiro.
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