CHENNAI: Chennai’s Ramkumar Ramanathan who went down fighting to finalist Aljaz Bedene in the quarterfinals in the last edition of the Chennai Open is looking forward to start the new season on a positive note at home.
He knows that having played well within his limitations for India in the Davis Cup against Spain and being the crowd favourite, he will be under pressure when the Chennai Open 2017 starts on January 2.
Last January, one did not expect Ramkumar to beat a player ranked 200 places ahead of him, but he put up a good fight. This is what he wants to do also this time around.
“This year also I’m going to play the Chennai Open with no expectations. I just want to go out there and enjoy. I do not want to put unnecessary pressure on me,’’ said Ramkumar.
Remind him of his good fight against Bedene in the previous edition, Ramkumar prefers to take that confidence into this year. “Yes, that confidence is there, but I would like to take one match at a time and I an going to give my best each and every point,” said the Chennai lad.
During the season Ramkumar reached the semifinals of the Challenger in three events and won 3 ITF Features tournament. But he is not satisfied with his performance as he expected to fare better. “The experience (wins ITF in December) will come in handy for the Open. But still 2016 has been a tough one for me,’’ says the youngster.
But he adds that he is rich from the Davis Cup experience. “Playing for India is always special. Playing the Davis Cup was a great experience for me. Any ATP tourney is tough and to win is never easy, but I’ll try my best,” he added.