INDIAN WELLS: Ramkumar Ramanathan's winless run against Liam Broady continued as the Indian Davis Cupper suffered his fourth straight defeat against the Briton to bow out of the Indian Wells Masters' qualifying event but Prajnesh Gunneswaran advanced at the Mexico Challenger tournament.
Ranked 170, Ramkumar came into the tournament after winning both his singles in the Davis Cup tie against Denmark.
He lost 2-6 6-3 4-6 to 17th seed and 124th ranked Broady in the opening round of the hardcourt event.
Meanwhile, left-handed Prajnesh made a winning start at the Challenger 100 event in Monterrey, knocking out American wild card Ryan Harrison 6-3 6-4.
His next opponent is also an American in Alex Rybakov, who disposed off the challenge of Rubin Statham 7-5 6-3.
Prajnesh did not get to play a single match in the home Davis Cup tie against Denmark.