Ramkumar Ramanathan fights hard but Saketh Myneni fizzles as India trail 0-2 against Spain in Davis Cup

Ramkumar Ramanathan showed a lot of character and fight before Saketh Myneni was dished out a plate of world class tennis as India trailed 0-2 after losing both their singles matches on the opening day of Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie against Spain. Ramkumar, despite being way below Feliciano Lopez in rankings fought his heart out in the first tie. Lopez who is currently World No. 26 grabbed the match 4-6 4-6 6-3 1-6.

Lopez was roped in at the last minute with Rafael Nadal sitting out the opening day. Lopez said it was a wrist injury which kept Nadal out while Conchita Martinez believed it was a stomach bug. The buildup was however, focused on Nadal as fans flocked to the stadium to witness the 14-time Grand Slam champion in action.Ramkumar’s fight had given the strong Indian crowd something to hope for but then Myneni was just blown away by the brilliance of World No. 13 David Ferrer.

Myneni lacked the grit and the determination to fight against a world class player like Ferrer and eventually surrendered the match 1-6 2-6 1–6 in an hour and 27 minutes.The Indian managed to take just four games in the match and committed as many as 28 unforced errors to Ferrer’s 11. The Spaniard won a total of 84 points to 46 of Myneni.

In the earlier game, Ramkumar egged on by the fans tried hard to match the skills of Lopez. But it was Lopez who had things under control from the very beginning.

Without much of an effort, Lopez took the first two sets to put Spain ahead. Ramkumar did make a comeback in the third by clinching it but Lopez then stepped on the gas and brought the curtains down with a dominating game in the fourth set.

In the second game where Myneni faced Ferrer, the latter ran away with the first set in just 21 minutes. Myneni made Ferrer’s job easier by making unforced errors and two double faults in the fourth game which saw Myneni concede a break and soon he was trailing 1-4.

It was another of Ferrer’s ferocious forehand which saw Myneni go down a breakpoint in the sixth game. He saved the first but then messed it up with a double fault. The set landed in Ferrer’s pocket thereafter.

The Spaniard continued his A game in the next set too racing to a 5-0 lead, and though the Indian got one break back Ferrer clinched the set in the eight game.The third set was almost the same as the first two with Ferrer continuing with his world class tennis.