Rajeev Ram ousts Ivan Navarro in the qualifying competition – BNP Paribas Open 2012
Qualifier’s 21st seed, Rajeev Ram, eased past the Spanish rising star, Ivan Navarro, in straight sets at the BNP Paribas Open 2012 on Tuesday. He formulated a 6-4, 6-2 victory over the world number 227 to book place in the final round of the qualifying
competition at this Masters 1000 event taking place in Indian Wells, United States.
The 27-year-old showed brilliant skills and agility to dump Navarro in their second meeting. He not only maintained his winning record against the Spaniard but also inched closer towards the main draw of this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) hard
court event.
Ranked 155th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Ram high spiritedly entered the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and held his serve in the second game to tie the scores at 1-1. He maintained consistency in his game and continued plucking
remaining serves without facing any serious challenge. Ram got the breakthrough in the seventh game and bagged the opener with a 6-4 win.
The local star kept momentum rolling into the following set and earned the critical break in the opening game. He then broke Navarro’s serve again in the fifth game and subsequently went 5-1 up. Ram held his serve once again in the eighth game and pulled
out the set with a 6-2 score line.
Ram produced a lower first serve share of 56 per cent as opposed to the Spaniard’s 75 per cent but superbly marked 23 out of 27 points on it. The American fended off the only breakpoint he faced and capitalised on three out of seven break chances to earn
the glory.
Next up for Ram is the third seeded Matthew Ebden who trashed Dominican Republic’s Victor Estrella in straight sets to set-up this battle. The Australian saved one out of two breakpoints he came across and capitalised on four out of seven break opportunities
to manipulate a 6-3, 6-2 success.
Top seeded Frederico Gil will accompany Ram in the final round of the qualifying competition. He devastated Alex Kuznetsov of America with double breadsticks to occupy this position. The Portuguese brushed off all three breakpoints he encountered and converted
five out of seven break chances to his advantage.
Gil will square off against the 24th seed, Ruben Bemelmans, who went the distance to outclass Canada’s Pierre-Ludovic Duclos in three sets to advance. The Belgian required two and half hours and broke his opponent’s serve four times to pocket
this match.
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