Australian Open 2018: Ramkumar Ramanathan wins second qualifying match to get one step closer to main draw

Melbourne: Indian tennis star Ramkumar Ramanathan won his second round qualifying match in straight sets, beating France’s Gleb Sakharov 6-4, 7-6 (12) at the Australian Open qualifiers in Melbourne on Saturday. Ramkumar, seeded 28th, sealed the match by smashing an ace to advance to the third round. He made the best use of his serves, firing an impressive 17 aces in the tie that lasted close to two hours. [caption id=“attachment_3773319” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Ramkumar Ramanathan. Image courtesy: Emilio Sanchez Vicario via Twitter[/caption] In the previous qualifying game, Ramkumar, edged out American Bradley Klahn 6-7(8), 7-6(3), 6-2 to set up a second round clash against the Frenchman. In the final round of qualifying, Ramkumar faces a tough opponent in Canada’s Vasek Pospisil. The Canadian is seeded fifth in qualifying, and was once ranked as high as 25. Yuki Bhambi’s QR3 was postponed from Saturday to Sunday due to rain, and he needs to defeat Peter Polansky of Canada to book his place in the main draw. With inputs from PTI