CHENNAI: 2021 was eventful for India’s No. 1 single player Ramkumar Ramanathan when he won his first ATP Challenger title in Bahrain last month. Ramkumar gets a lot of confidence from the win as he kicks off the new season by playing in the Australian Open qualifiers, which start on January 10th.
“I will leave for Australia on Tuesday. The goal is to do my best and keep improving, ”said the 27-year-old on Monday evening during a congratulations program organized by the Ampa Group here.
Ramkumar — who has taken 12 years since his career to achieve tournament success at Challenger level — wants to move into the top 100 rankings in 2022. have done the past few years. If I get into the top 100, nothing like that. I think if I continue to play well and grow as a player, I can crack this barrier, ”said Ramkumar, who is currently ranked 184th in the world.
Ramkumar has been on the track for well over a decade and rates the Challenger tournaments as the toughest. “I’ve played both the Challenger tournaments and ATP events and the difference (in the levels of competition) isn’t that big. Challengers are tougher if you ask me. The fire (to win) in each player is much greater in Challengers. As a seeded player in an ATP tournament, you can sometimes get away with a match here or there as you (your opponent) may no longer exert yourself. The effort and challenges involved in a Challenger event are immense, ”emphasizes Ramkumar.
India will host Denmark at the Davis Cup in New Delhi in March 2022. Ramkumar believes India will have the upper hand in the duel. “Denmark is a strong team with players like Holger Rune and Mikael Torpegaard. However, we will play on grass, which was a joint decision of the coaches and players. I think it will work in our favor, ”he said.