Rajeev Ram overcomes Kaichi Uchida in the opener – KEIO Challenger 2012
USA’s second seeded contestant, Rajeev Ram, bounced back after getting down in the opener to survive against local wild card entrant, Kaichi Uchida, in the first round of the KEIO Challenger in Yokohama, Japan on Tuesday.
Ram got stunned 4-6 in the first set but then captured the following two 6-3, 7-6(4) to grab victory in two hours and 13 minutes and book his place at the next stage.
Uchida played attackingly from the very first point and the strategy worked for him, as he broke Ram in the opening game and held his next serve to gain a 2-0 lead. The Japanese contender sustained his advantage till the end and
sealed it 6-4.
Ranked 1768th in the world, Uchida neither hit an ace nor committed any double fault in the first set. The Japanese contestant delivered 77 percent of the first serves and converted 17 of the 24 of them into points.
The 18-year-old fared badly on the first returns, as he lost 10 of the 11 points on them but balanced a bit by securing five of the 11 on the second ones.
Uchida and Ram exchanged one strike in the opening six games of the second set and equalised the score at 3-3. It was all Ram show later on, as he clinched three back to back to claim it 6-3.
The American national bombarded five aces and secured 12 of the 16 points on the first serves. Both players committed one double fault but Uchida’s first delivery percentage went down to 56 and he dropped eight of the 15 points
on them. Ram could not put away the only break threat he came across but availed two of the five chances he created in the second set.
Decider was the most competitive of all, as both players went on equal terms till the end, levelling the score at 6-6 and taking it to a tie-breaker. Ram bagged two late mini-breaks and made the most of them to close it 7-6(4).
The American participant will face the world number 290, Christopher Rungat of Indonesia, in the second round.
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