I thank Chandra sir for guiding me: Ramkumar

The maiden Challenger singles title has come at the right time for the 27-year-old Ramkumar Ramanathan, who has matured into an all-court player.

Ramkumar, who shot to World No. 186 and No.1 in the country after he beat Evgeny Karlovskiy of Russia 6-1, 6-4 in the final, was grateful, especially to coach T. Chandrasekaran for his constant guidance.

“At this moment, I thank Chandra sir for guiding me all the way. We spoke before each match and it really helped me stay focused. He made me believe in myself and in my resources during every match. I thank God for keeping me healthy,” said Ramkumar after the triumph in Bahrain.

Based in Chennai, Chandrasekaran, who has coached Ramkumar from his childhood, summed up nicely about the level of tennis his ward was demonstrating for his successful journey on the professional tour.

“Ram has excellent on-court resources. I have always advised him to play to his strengths. He has a huge forehand, big first and second serve, good backhand and penetrative volleys. Ram can mix up according to the demands of the situation. He raised his level of aggression when required and his confidence grew with every match,” said coach Chandra.

More than anything, the coach was pleased that, “Ram is physically fit and mentally very strong.

“He will have bigger wins in the coming days. Ram showed there was no dearth of fighting abilities as he found ways from tricky positions to win.

“Ram played remarkably well when he was down. He broke his opponent’s serve and got back into the match and won. The whole week he served well,” said the coach.

Aces galore

Ramkumar served 62 aces in five matches and 45 of them were from the quarterfinals to the finals. He converted 17 of 27 break points in five matches, of which two went to three sets. He dropped serve only five times the whole week in singles, as he saved 15 break points in all.

After losing six Challenger finals over the years, Ramkumar was delighted with the maiden title. He expressed his gratitude to coach Emilio Sanchez and the Sanchez Academy for “always helping me”.

He was also thankful to his employer, Indian Oil Corporation “for their continuous support”.