Ramkumar overcomes Aisam 2-1 in a thrilling three sets contest at grass courts
Abdul Jabbar Faisal
ISLAMABAD: The Indian tennis team earned a 2-0 lead against Pakistan in the Davis Cup Tennis Tie World Group 1 play-off, which started at the grass courts of Aisam Tennis Arena, Pakistan Sports Complex Islamabad on Saturday. Ramkumar Ramanathen, and Sriram Balaji claimed victories for India. The Doubles’ and two reverse singles will be played on Sunday (February 4, 2024) at the same venue.
In the first singles, Ramkumar Ramanathen won the toss and decided to serve first, as he hit the first serve in the net, however, the Indian guy played an aggressive game and won the first game without conceding a solitary point. Both players exhibited top-class tennis in the first set and maintained their respective serves till 6-6. Aisam won the first set on tie-break at 7-3 by smashing a couple of aces.
After losing the first set, Ramkumar changed his strategy and broke the first game of Aisam without conceding a single point. He maintained the same pace in the second game and finished in a similar style without losing any points and made the score 2-0. Aisam bounced back in the set by breaking the 4th game of his challenger to square the set point 2-2. Both players retained serves in the rest of the eight games. The score was one again level at 6-6. This time Ramkumar won the set on a tie-break to level the match at 2-2.
In the decisive set, Aisam did not feel well owing to his injury and during the set, he got three minutes of a medical break. Ramkumar finished the third set 6-0. The final score-line of the match was 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (7-4), 6-0.
In the second match, Sriram Balaji defeated Aqeel Khan in straight sets 2-0 at the same venue. The final score-line was 7-5, and 6-3.
