Ramkumar wins Antalya ITF Futures singles title

Tennis - Indian teenager Ramkumar Ramanathan has won his tenth match in a row and second ITF Futures title in as many weeks in Turkey on Sunday, continuing to underline his status at the young Indian tennis star to watch out for in the next few seasons. The top-seeded Ramanathan, who does not turn 20 until November, scored a comprehensive 6-3, 6-0 win over Venezuela’s Ricardo Rodriguez, his doubles partner this week. The two also reached the doubles final here but were beaten by the British duo Scott Clayton/ Richard Gabb on Saturday.

This is the fourth ITF Futures singles title for Ramanathan this season and the sixth of his career. The 6 ft 2 inch tall Ramanathan was actually hoping to be in Korea representing India at the Asian Games this past fortnight but the selectors oversight has resulted in a fruitful two weeks for him. The back-to-back titles in Turkey have earned the young Indian 36 ATP ranking points and will push him around the 265 mark in the world rankings, which will be a new career-best for him.

Ramanathan is one of the leading youngsters to come out of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association program and hones his skills regularly at the Sanchez-Casal Tennis Academy in Barcelona, which has also trained Grand Slam champion such as Andy Murray and Svetlana Kuznetsova.