File photo of Ankita Raina.
Highlight
- Twin defeats by Indian players after Prajnesh and Yuki Bhambri won their respective matches
- World number 221 Prajnesh will next face Germany’s world number 228 Maximilian Marterer on Wednesday.
- Bhambri will face world number 130 Tomas Machak of the Czech Republic on Thursday.
Indian tennis players Ramkumar Ramanathan and Ankita Raina made early exits after losing in the first round of the Australian Open 2022 qualifiers in Melbourne on Tuesday.
ATP number 182 Ramanathan, who is yet to make it to the main draw of the Grand Slam, lost 3-6, 5-7 in straight sets to world number 197 Gian Marco Moroni. WTA number 104 Ankita Raina lost to world number 120 Lesia Surenko 1-6, 0-6.
Twin defeats by Indian players after Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Yuki Bhambri won their respective opening round matches at the Grand Slam.
Bhambri, who returned to the Grand Slam stage after the 2018 US Open with a knee injury, defeated his 248th-ranked Portuguese rival 6-4, 6-2 in just 68 minutes.
The 29-year-old Indian’s serve was looking good and played smart as he charged the net to keep the points low.
Prajnesh, on the other hand, defeated high-ranked Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 6-4 in straight sets to enter the second round.
World No. 221 Prajnesh will now face Germany’s World No. 228 Maximilian Marterer on Wednesday while Bhambri will face Czech Republic’s World No. 130 Tomas Machak on Thursday.
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