Ramkumar qualifies for Chennai Open

Living up to the hopes of local fans, young Ramkumar Ramanathan stormed into singles main draw of the Aircel Chennai Open after a hard-fought win over higher-ranked Slovakian Norbert Gombos in the final round of the qualifiers, on Monday. Ramkumar, ranked 526, ousted Gombos, who is ranked 197, 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3 after two hours and six minutes battle. However, he has been pitted against India’s best singles player Somdev Devvarman in his first round match. In a brief chat with newspersons after making the main draw, Ramkumar said, ‘It was a tough match from the beginning against the Norbert. But I was in control. It was just a points that mattered.’