Ramkumar Ramanathan

Ramkumar Ramanathan (born 8 November 1994) is a professional Indian tennis player.[1] He is the first Indian player to reach an ATP world tour singles final since Somdev Devvarman. He achieved his highest singles ranking of 111 on 30 July 2018, and represents India in the Davis Cup.

Ramkumar Ramanathan

Country (sports)	India
Residence	Barcelona, Spain & Chennai, India
Born	8 November 1994 Chennai, India
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach	Juan Balcells & Sergio Casal
Prize money	$744,062
Singles
Career record	22–27 (44.9% in ATP Tour and Grand Slam main draw matches, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	0 0 Challenger, 16 Futures
Highest ranking	No. 111 (30 July 2018)
Current ranking	No. 190 (28 December 2020)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	Q3 (2018)
French Open	Q2 (2015)
Wimbledon	Q2 (2016, 2019)
US Open	Q2 (2015, 2017)
Doubles
Career record	4–7 (36.4% in ATP Tour and Grand Slam main draw matches, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	0 5 Challenger, 15 Futures
Highest ranking	No. 101 (2 March 2020)
Current ranking	No. 110 (28 December 2020)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	8–7 (Singles 8–7, Doubles 0–0)
Medal record Representing  India Men's tennis South Asian Games 2016 Guwahati Men's Singles 2016 Guwahati Men's Doubles
Last updated on: 22 March 2020.

Personal and early life

Ramanathan started playing tennis at the age of five. He was introduced to the sport by his father Ramanathan. His mother's name is Alagammai and sister's name is Uma. Both his parents are into the textile business. He speaks English, Spanish and Tamil. He trains at Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona, Spain.[2] He is currently pursuing B.A. in Economics at Loyola College.[3]

Career

2014-2016: Early career

In 2014, Ramanathan hit the headlines when he qualified for the main draw of the Chennai Open and beat then Indian No.1 Somdev Devvarman in the first round.[4][5][6] He eventually lost to Marcel Granollers in second round.

In 2015, Ramanathan played mostly on Futures and Challenger level. He entered Chennai Open where he lost in first round to Tatsuma Ito in straight sets.[2] In April, he reached his first doubles final at a challenger event at Mersin Cup in Turkey. Partnering with Riccardo Ghedin, the pair lost final to Mate Pavić and Michael Venus.[7] He entered his second ATP world tour event of the year at Malaysian Open where he lost in first round to Mikhail Kukushkin.[2]

In the 2016 season Ramanathan entered Chennai Open and reached the quarterfinals. This was the first time he reached to quarterfinals at an ATP World Tour event. He defeated Daniel Gimeno Traver and Alexander Kudryavtsev in first and second rounds respectively. He eventually lost to Aljaž Bedene in quarterfinals.[8] In October, Ramanathan partnered with Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan. The pair reached the final at Vietnam Open Challenger where they lost to Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatana from Thailand to finish as runners-up.[9]

2017: Challenger breakthrough and first top-10 win

In April, Ramanathan reached his first singles challenger final at Tallahassee challenger. He lost the final to Blaž Rola from Slovenia to finish as runner-up.[10]

Ramanathan entered 2017 Antalya Open where he produced a big upset by defeating world No. 8 and top seed Dominic Thiem in the second round. This was his first match against a top-10 player. Ranked world No. 222, Ramanathan defeated Thiem in straight sets 6–3, 6–2.[11] He progressed till the quarterfinals where he lost to Marcos Baghdatis in a third set tie break.

In July, he reached his second singles challenger final at Nielsen Pro Tennis Championships. But here too he had to be content as runner-up. He lost the final in straight sets to Akira Santillan from Japan.[12][13]

In August, Ramanathan qualified for the first time in main draw of a Masters 1000 tournament at Cincinnati Masters. He defeated Christopher Eubanks in first round but lost to Jared Donaldson in second round.[14] Ramanathan entered qualifying draw of US Open. He defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu in first round but lost to Nicolas Mahut in second round.[15] He finished year with singles ranking of 148.

2018: First ATP world tour final

Ramanathan opened his new season by entering Maharashtra Open as a wild card. He lost in round 2 to top seed Marin Cilic in straight sets.[16] He then entered qualifying draw of Australian Open where he lost in final qualifying round to Vasek Pospisil.[17]

In April, Ramanathan reached his first challenger singles final of the season at Taipei Challenger. He was defeated in the finals by compatriot Yuki Bhambri.[18]

In July, Ramanathan reached his first ATP world tour final at Newport. He lost in the final to Steve Johnson from USA. He became first Indian player to reach an ATP world tour singles final since Somdev Devvarman who had reached the final at Johannesburg in 2011.[19]

In November, he won his first doubles ATP Challenger title at Pune Challenger. He paired with compatriot Vijay Sundar Prashanth and defeated team of Hsieh Cheng-peng and Yang Tsung-hua from Taipei in the final.[20] He finished the year with singles ranking of 133.

ATP career finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0) ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0) ATP World Tour 250 Series (0–1)

Finals by surface Hard (0–0) Clay (0–0) Grass (0–1)

Finals by setting Outdoor (1–0) Indoor (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Jul 2018	Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, United States	250 Series	Grass	Steve Johnson	5–7, 6–3, 2–6

Challenger and Futures finals

Singles: 27 (16–11)

Legend (Singles) ATP Challenger Tour (0–5) ITF Futures Tour (16–6)

Titles by Surface Hard (14–7) Clay (2–3) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–1)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Dec 2012	India F16, Dharwad	Futures	Hard	Sanam Singh	2–6, 6–7^(4–7)
Loss	0–2	Jun 2013	Spain F17, Martos	Futures	Hard	Steven Diez	5–7, 7–6^(7–4), 4–6
Win	1–2	Nov 2013	India F11, Raipur	Futures	Hard	Lee Duck-hee	3–6, 7–6^(8–6), 6–4
Win	2–2	Dec 2013	Cambodia F2, Phnom Penh	Futures	Hard	Josh Goodall	6–1, 4–6, 6–4
Win	3–2	May 2014	Turkey F14, Antalya	Futures	Hard	Anton Zaitcev	6–7^(6–8), 6–0, 6–2
Win	4–2	Jul 2014	Spain F17, Getxo	Futures	Clay	Marc Giner	6–4, 6–1
Loss	4–3	Jul 2014	Spain F18, Gandia	Futures	Clay	Arthur De Greef	4–6, 6–4, 3–6
Win	5–3	Sep 2014	Turkey F32, Antalya	Futures	Hard	Rémi Boutillier	6–4, 7–6^(10–8)
Win	6–3	Sep 2014	Turkey F33, Antalya	Futures	Hard	Ricardo Rodríguez	6–3, 6–0
Win	7–3	Nov 2014	India F7, Raipur	Futures	Hard	Saketh Myneni	6–1, 6–2
Loss	7–4	Dec 2014	Qatar F5, Doha	Futures	Hard	Nikoloz Basilashvili	6–7^(5–7), 2–6
Loss	7–5	Mar 2015	India F3, Tiruchirapalli	Futures	Clay	Vijay Sundar Prashanth	3–6, 4–6
Win	8–5	May 2015	India F6, Mysore	Futures	Hard	Vishnu Vardhan	7–6^(7–2), 3–6, 6–3
Win	9–5	Sep 2015	India F13, Coimbatore	Futures	Hard	Ouyang Bowen	6–4, 6–2
Loss	9–6	Oct 2015	Turkey F40, Antalya	Futures	Hard	Tim van Rijthoven	3–6, 6–4, 4–6
Win	10–6	Nov 2015	India F16, Gwalior	Futures	Hard	Prajnesh Gunneswaran	6–3, 6–4
Win	11–6	Dec 2015	India F19, Mumbai	Futures	Hard	Prajnesh Gunneswaran	6–3, 6–3
Win	12–6	May 2016	Spain F12, Lleida	Futures	Clay	Félix Auger-Aliassime	7–6^(7–1), 6–2
Win	13–6	Dec 2016	Qatar F5, Doha	Futures	Hard	Sebastian Ofner	7–5, 6–3
Win	14–6	Dec 2016	Qatar F6, Doha	Futures	Hard	Sebastian Ofner	7–5, 6–3
Loss	14–7	Apr 2017	Tallahassee, USA	Challenger	Clay	Blaž Rola	2–6, 7–6^(8–6), 5–7
Win	15–7	Jun 2017	Singapore F2, Singapore	Futures	Hard	Raymond Sarmiento	6–2, 6–2
Win	16–7	Jun 2017	Singapore F3, Singapore	Futures	Hard	Nicholas S. Hu	7–6^(7–4), 6–2
Loss	16–8	Jul 2017	Winnetka, USA	Challenger	Hard	Akira Santillan	6–7^(1–7), 2–6
Loss	16–9	Nov 2017	Pune, India	Challenger	Hard	Yuki Bhambri	6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Loss	16–10	Apr 2018	Taipei, Chinese Taipei	Challenger	Hard (i)	Yuki Bhambri	3–6, 4–6
Loss	16–11	Nov 2020	Eckental, Germany	Challenger	Carpet	Sebastian Korda	4–6, 4–6

Doubles: 38 (20–18)

Legend (Doubles) ATP Challenger Tour (5–6) ITF Futures Tour (15–12)

Titles by Surface Hard (12–11) Clay (8–6) Grass (0–1) Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Aug 2011	Spain F29, Vigo	Futures	Clay	Rafael Mazón-Hernández	Taro Daniel Hiroyasu Ehara	6–3, 6–2
Win	2–0	Jul 2012	Turkey F28, İzmir	Futures	Clay	Kirill Dmitriev	Julien Demois Yanais Laurent	6–2, 6–2
Win	3–0	Jun 2013	Spain F17, Martos	Futures	Hard	Ashwin Vijayragavan	Roberto Ortega Olmedo Ricardo Villacorta-Alonso	6–3, 5–7, [11–9]
Loss	3–1	Sep 2013	Spain F32, Sevilla	Futures	Clay	Matwé Middelkoop	Eduard Esteve Lobato Oriol Roca Batalla	2–6, 3–6
Win	4–1	Oct 2013	Spain F33, Sabadell	Futures	Clay	David Pérez Sanz	Eduard Esteve Lobato Oriol Roca Batalla	6–7^(4–7), 6–3, [10–8]
Loss	4–2	Oct 2013	Spain F36, El Prat de Llobregat	Futures	Clay	David Pérez Sanz	Antonio Campo Omar Giacalone	6–3, 4–6, [6–10]
Loss	4–3	Nov 2013	India F9, Delhi	Futures	Hard	Ashwin Vijayragavan	Sriram Balaji Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan	6–7^(3–7), 3–6
Loss	4–4	Nov 2013	India F11, Raipur	Futures	Hard	Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash	Sriram Balaji Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan	1–6, 3–6
Win	5–4	Dec 2013	Cambodia F3, Phnom Penh	Futures	Hard	Karunuday Singh	Takuto Niki Arata Onozawa	6–4, 6–3
Win	6–4	Mar 2014	India F4, Trichy	Futures	Clay	Arun-Prakash Rajagopalan	Giorgio Portaluri Lucas Renard	6–3, 4–6, [10–6]
Loss	6–5	May 2014	Turkey F14, Antalya	Futures	Hard	Andrei Ciumac	Sho Katayama Bumpei Sato	3–6, 1–6
Loss	6–6	May 2014	Turkey F16, Antalya	Futures	Hard	Hugo Grenier	Dimitar Kuzmanov Ricardo Rodríguez	w/o
Win	7–6	Jun 2014	Spain F15, Palma del Río	Futures	Hard	Jaume Pla Malfeito	Eduard Esteve Lobato Oriol Roca Batalla	7–6^(7–2), 4–6, [10–7]
Win	8–6	Jul 2014	Spain F17, Getxo	Futures	Clay	David Pérez Sanz	João Domingues José Antón Salazar Martín	5–7, 6–3, [10–4]
Loss	8–7	Jul 2014	Spain F18, Gandia	Futures	Clay	Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela	Juan-Samuel Arauzo-Martínez Martin Beran	6–2, 6–7^(3–7), [9–11]
Loss	8–8	Sep 2014	Turkey F33, Antalya	Futures	Hard	Ricardo Rodríguez	Scott Clayton Richard Gabb	5–7, 6–7^(7–9)
Win	9–8	Oct 2014	Turkey F34, Antalya	Futures	Hard	Tuna Altuna	Barış Ergüden Jan Hájek	6–4, 6–2
Win	10–8	Dec 2014	Qatar F5, Doha	Futures	Hard	Sriram Balaji	Sam Barry Maximilian Neuchrist	6–3, 6–4
Loss	10–9	Mar 2015	India F2, Bhimavaram	Futures	Hard	Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan	Sriram Balaji Vishnu Vardhan	7–6^(7–5), 3–6, [6–10]
Win	11–9	Mar 2015	India F3, Tiruchirappalli	Futures	Clay	Arun-Prakash Rajagopalan	Anvit Bendre Akash Wagh	3–6, 6–2, [10–6]
Loss	11–10	Apr 2015	Mersin, Turkey	Challenger	Clay	Riccardo Ghedin	Mate Pavić Michael Venus	7–5, 3–6, [4–10]
Win	12–10	Oct 2015	Turkey F41, Antalya	Futures	Hard	Sarp Ağabigün	Kirill Dmitriev Luca Margaroli	6–4, 6–4
Loss	12–11	Nov 2015	India F16, Gwalior	Futures	Hard	Hung Jui-chen	Sriram Balaji Vishnu Vardhan	4–6, 6–7^(5–7)
Win	13–11	Dec 2015	India F19, Mumbai	Futures	Hard	Kaliyanda Poonacha	Anvit Bendre Chandril Sood	6–4, 6–3
Win	14–11	May 2016	Spain F12, Lleida	Futures	Clay	David Vega Hernández	Carlos Boluda-Purkiss Alex de Minaur	6–3, 6–1
Loss	14–12	Oct 2016	France F21, Nevers	Futures	Hard (i)	Jordi Muñoz Abreu	Antoine Hoang Grégoire Jacq	3–6, 4–6
Loss	14–13	Oct 2016	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	Challenger	Hard	Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan	Sanchai Ratiwatana Sonchat Ratiwatana	5–7, 4–6
Win	15–13	Feb 2017	USA F8, Indian Harbour Beach	Futures	Clay	Jaume Pla Malfeito	Hunter Callahan Nick Chappell	6–2, 6–7^(5–7), [11–9]
Loss	15–14	Mar 2017	USA F9, Orlando	Futures	Clay	Jaume Pla Malfeito	Connor Smith Rhyne Williams	4–6, 4–6
Loss	15–15	Nov 2018	Bratislava, Slovakia	Challenger	Hard (i)	Andrei Vasilevski	Denys Molchanov Igor Zelenay	2–6, 6–3, [9–11]
Win	16–15	Nov 2018	Pune, India	Challenger	Hard	Vijay Sundar Prashanth	Hsieh Cheng-peng Yang Tsung-hua	7–6^(7–3), 6–7^(5–7), [10–7]
Loss	16–16	Jun 2019	Surbiton, Great Britain	Challenger	Grass	Kwon Soon-woo	Marcel Granollers Ben McLachlan	6–4, 3–6, [2–10]
Win	17–16	Jul 2019	Recanati, Italy	Challenger	Hard	Gonçalo Oliveira	Andrea Vavassori David Vega Hernández	6–2, 6–4
Loss	17–17	Oct 2019	Barcelona, Spain	Challenger	Clay	Sergio Martos Gornés	Simone Bolelli David Vega Hernández	4–6, 5–7
Loss	17–18	Nov 2019	Shenzhen, China	Challenger	Hard	Mikhail Elgin	Hsieh Cheng-peng Yang Tsung-hua	2–6, 5–7
Win	18–18	Nov 2019	Kobe, Japan	Challenger	Hard (i)	Purav Raja	André Göransson Christopher Rungkat	7–6^(8–6), 6–3
Win	19–18	Nov 2019	Pune, India	Challenger	Hard	Purav Raja	Arjun Kadhe Saketh Myneni	7–6^(7–3), 6–3
Win	20–18	Feb 2020	Bangalore, India	Challenger	Hard	Purav Raja	Leander Paes Matthew Ebden	6-0, 6-3

Singles performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

A

P

Z#

PO

G

F-S

SF-B

NMS

NH

(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (P) postponed; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Updated through the 2021 Australian Open.

Tournament	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	SR	W–L	Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	Q1	Q1	A	Q3	Q2	Q1	Q2	0 / 0	0–0	–
French Open	A	Q2	Q1	Q1	Q1	Q1	Q1		0 / 0	0–0	–
Wimbledon	A	A	Q2	A	Q1	Q2	NH		0 / 0	0–0	–
US Open	A	Q2	Q1	Q2	A	Q1	A		0 / 0	0–0	–
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0 / 0	0–0	–
National representation
Davis Cup	A	A	PO	Z1	PO	Z1	QR		0 / 5	8–8	50%
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	1–3	5–1	1–2	1–1	0–1	0–0	0 / 5	8–8	50%
Career statistics
Titles–Finals	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1
Overall Win–Loss	1–1	0–2	3–5	8–5	7–7	3–5	0–2	0–0	22–28		46%
Year-end ranking	241	248	227	148	133				$668,623

Wins over top-10 players

Season	2017	2018	2019	Total
Wins	1	0	0	1

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Rd	Score	RR Rank
2017
1.	Dominic Thiem	8	Antalya, Turkey	Grass	2nd round	6–3, 6–2	221

References

1. "Ramkumar RAMANATHAN". itftennis.com. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
2. "Ramakumar Ramanathan - ATP Profile". atpworldtour. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
3. "A day to remember for Ramkumar". The Hindu. 15 November 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
4. "Chennai Open: Yuki Bhambri wins opener, Somdev Devvarman loses to Ramkumar Ramanathan". sports.ndtv.com. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
5. Mehta, Rutvick. "Chennai Open: After beating Somdev Devvarman in round 1, 19-year-old R Ramanathan hopes to break into top-200 by end of 2014". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
6. Gopalkrishnan, Krithika (2 January 2014). "Ramkumar Arrives With a Bang". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
7. "Draw PDF" (PDF). Retrieved 17 August 2017.
8. Judge, Shahid (9 January 2016). "Chennai Open 2016: In lost cause, Ramkumar Ramanathan gives fresh hope". The Indian Express. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
9. "Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, Ramkumar Ramanathan end runners-up at Vietnam Open". The Indian Express. Press Trust of India. 16 October 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
10. "Paes-Lipsky win Tallahassee Challenger title". The Indian Express. Press Trust of India. 30 April 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
11. "Ramkumar Ramanathan stuns World No. 8 Dominic Thiem with straight set win at Antalya Open". The Indian Express. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
12. "Ramkumar Ramanathan battles past Tommy Paul in Winnetka semis". The New Indian Express. Press Trust of India. 15 July 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
13. "Ramkumar stumbles in Winnetka Challenger final". sportstarlive.com. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
14. "Ramkumar Ramanathan out of Cincinnati Masters with second round defeat". The Indian Express. Press Trust of India. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
15. "Ramkumar Ramanathan ousted from US Open qualifying event". The Indian Express. Press Trust of India. 25 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
16. Judge, Shahid (4 January 2018). "Maharashtra Open: Clinical Marin Cilic gives Ramkumar Ramanathan a schooling". The Indian Express. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
17. Tirkey, Joy (14 January 2018). "Yuki Bhambri Qualifies For Australian Open, Ramkumar Ramanathan Misses Out". NDTV. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
18. "Yuki Bhambri wins Taipei Challenger, set to break back into top 100 in ATP rankings". 15 April 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
19. "Ramkumar Ramanathan Finishes Runners-up as Johnson Wins Newport Title". 23 July 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
20. "Ramkumar-Vijay pair clinches Pune Challenger trophy". Press Trust of India. 24 November 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2019.

External links

• Ramkumar Ramanathan at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Ramkumar Ramanathan at the International Tennis Federation
• Ramkumar Ramanathan at the Davis Cup