 | « Back to article | Print this article |
It will motivate him to keep working hard and move to the top 100, feels India’s Davis Cup captain Mahesh Bhupathi
India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan stunned top seed and World No 8 Dominic Thiem in straight sets at the Antalya Open in Turkey on Tuesday.
And congratulations along with words of encouragement poured in for the World No 222, who inflicted a 6-3, 6-2 defeat over Thiem.
The first few big names to send positive vibes in Ramanathan’s direction was former India cricketer Virender Sehwag.
Sehwag took to his favourite platform – Twitter -- to congratulate the rising Indian tennis star.
“Many Congratulations Ramkumar Ramanathan, ranked World No. 222 on beating World No. 8 Dominic Thiem in straight sets in the #AntalyaOpen”, he tweeted.
Ramanathan’s Davis Cup captain Mahesh Bhupathi said he believes that the 23-year-old can move into the top-100 by taking confidence from this win.
"It's very exciting. I'm sure it will give him a lot of confidence. It proves that he is capable of playing at a certain level. It will motivate him to keep working hard and move to the top 100," Bhupathi told ESPN.
Thiem, who reached the French Open semi-finals earlier this month, was beaten in just under an hour by Ramanathan, who hit 10 aces to the Austrian's four.
"Of course Ram was serving so big today, that Thiem wasn't getting any points on his serve. That rattled him a little bit and that was why his standard got progressively worse."
The world number eight saved three break points in the second set but struggled to land his first serve as Ramanathan secured one of his most cherished victories on the tour.
“I worked really hard for this,” said the Indian, who will meet Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in the quarter-finals.
"I like the grass. Courts are fast. I took my chances and it worked out."