Ramkumar Ramanathan: Looking forward to playing in Canada, that will be big

Ramkumar Ramanathan during the Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan at KSLTA Stadium Bangalore PicAFPItrsquos well over a week since Ramkumar Ramanathan etched his name into Indian tennis history with a massive 63 62 victory over World No 8 Dominic Thiem also the tournamentrsquos top seed at the Antalya Open in TurkeyIt took just about an hour for the 22yearold World No 222 Indian to overcome the giant Austrian and make overnight headlines by creating one of Indian tennisrsquo biggest upsetsIn 2014 Somdev Devvarman had beaten Juan Martin Del Potro then World No 5 but the Argentine had retired from the match So Leander Paes beating then World No 2 Pete Sampras at New Haven in 1998 was probably the last big win by an Indian on the TourThere are two good things going for Chennaibased Ramkumar Firstly his age Hersquos got a long way to go And secondly the fact that he isnrsquot getting carried away by his achievement and is willing to get back on to the court and grind it out for every match hereafter just as hersquos been doing till dateldquoItrsquos been a good journey so far and I know that itrsquos going to get tougher Irsquom up for the challenge I will work hard day in and day out and irrespective of the results I will keep doing the hard yardsrdquo Ramkumar tells midday over the phone recently from Recanati in Italy while playing in the ATP Challenger thereThe tiredness in his voice is understandable given that professional tennis players live out of a suitcase traveling throughout the year week in and week out across various countries with no family or friends for company Ramkumar however isnrsquot complaining ldquoMy dad put me into tennis when I was very young And today as I continue to enjoy whatever Irsquom doing I have to thank him for thatrdquo he saysSure the win over Thiem is extraspecial but even better was the young Indianrsquos show against another big shot Marcus Baghdatis of Cyprus in the quarterfinals of the same tournamentAggression paid offRamkumar explains ldquoI just wanted to play good aggressive tennis against Thiem and thatrsquos exactly what I did I did not think about winning or losing or even about his ranking I went for my shots served well came in for a few volleys too and things came off better for me at crucial junctures like when I was on set point or like when I had to serve for the match Against Baghdatis though it was a different situationThe match was played in rather different conditions It was a lot more hotter and humid as compared to the match against Thiem But I had a good outing here too before narrowly losing 76 36 67 across two hours and 43 minutes I lost 68 in the third set tiebreak but then Baghdatis is a great player very experienced so full credit to him For me it was just another learning curveItrsquos this thirst for knowledge that makes Ramkumar pick Paesrsquo brains all the time and hersquos grateful that the 18time Grand Slam doubles champ has always been receptiveLeander was here in Antalya and he was very happy for me Hersquos a very nice guy and Irsquod like to thank him for always being there to help me and encourage me with his kind wordsIt helps greatly on Tour to have someone whorsquos so experience to be a part of your teamrdquo said Ramkumar who partnered Paes inOctober last year for the 50000 KPIT Challenger event in PunePaes was all praise for the lad then Ram is a great young kid who invests a lot of time and effort on his tennis and is doing pretty well in singles Irsquove been advising him on his tournament selection in Europe and across Asia We regularly also discuss things like his serve strokes diet and even fitness Paes had told midday thenHe continues to back the young man ldquoYou will always have my support Keep working wekeepgettingbetter ramkumar1994rdquo Paes wrote on Twitter recentlyJust like his mentor Paes Ramkumar also cherishes representing the country in the Davis Cup Hersquos done so a few times already and has won his singles rubbers too contributing valuable points to the teamrsquos outcomeThe Davis Cup is very important to me Itrsquos a dream to represent your nation and Irsquove been fortunate to be able to live that dream Mahesh Bhupathi India captain and Rohan Bopanna have been very kind and helpful for which Irsquom always grateful he saysCanada calling India take on Canada in their own backyard for their Davis Cup World Group playoff tie on an indoor hard court in Edmonton in September and Ramkumar canrsquot wait to don his India blue shirt againI have a few tournaments lined up in Europe now but Irsquom already looking forward to playing Canada in Edmonton Thatrsquoll be a big one so letrsquos see how that one goes But one thingrsquos for sure this win over Thiem will definitely keep me in a positive frame of mind going forward