Indian tennis player credits maiden ATP final run to composed mind, wants to build on success
Ramkumar Ramanathan couldn't have entered the Hall of Fame Open in a worse frame of mind.
The 23-year-old had a string of demoralising results in the first two weeks of this month, crashing out in the opening round of qualifying at Wimbledon followed by back-to-back Round 1 defeats at Challenger events in Recanati, Italy, and Winnetka, USA.
In a quiet season for him, something had to change.
Ramkumar landed in Newport, took a day off, cleared his mind, unclogged the clutter.
The result?
The Chennai youngster zoomed his way into the final of the ATP 250 event, his maiden entry into the ATP World Tour singles title clash, and a first by an Indian since 2011.
Ramkumar was a set away from ending India's 20-year wait for an ATP World Tour singles winner since Leander Paes — won the same title in 1998 — but went down 5-7 6-3 2-6 in the final against local hope Steve Johnson late on Sunday night.
The slightly disappointing loss, though, couldn't overshadow the largely delightful week for the Indian.
"It has been the best tournament of my career," Ramkumar told DNA from Newport on Monday.
"There are so many positives for me to take. I've been working very hard, and all the hardwork that I have put in is paying off now.
"Of course, it's always a bit of worry when you lose a final this close. But I learnt a lot of things this week, most of all to keep going, keep trusting myself," he added.
Ramkumar rode on that trust throughout the tournament, and even before it to get over the lean patch.
"I had a rough couple of weeks," he said. "I came here and took a day off just to clear my mind.
"I entered fresh into this event, which helped me play well. The turnaround started in the second round against Denis Kudla (Ramkumar rallied after losing the first set to win). And as I kept going, I started feeling better, a lot more confident than before."
Part of that clearing of the mind — apart from his technical tweaks on the grass-court surface — involved trying to keep calm even when things weren't going his way on the court.
"I've been working a lot on my backhand, as well as getting better returns in," Ramkumar, who trains at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona, said. "I was also a lot composed when I was losing points or games in this tournament."
What also helped was the presence of the legendary Leander Paes in the same tournament, besides Ramkumar's personal coaches.
"Leander was a huge support throughout this week. He was always there beside me, talking to me after matches apart from my coaches. Such things make a big difference," Ramkumar said.
Ramkumar has always had the prerequisite promising game to do well on the Tour, a sprinkle of victories against some top players proving that (he beat 2018 French Open runners-up Dominic Thiem in Antalya last year).
But this stretch of four solid wins, three of them against higher-ranked players, culminating into an ATP final appearance has reiterated his belief more than before.
"I needed this week," he said. "I always wanted to go deep into tournaments. When I spoke to my coaches, they kept telling me, 'you have the game, just believe in yourself.'
"So, I knew it was coming at some point. Now that I have, I want to build on this," he added.
Up next on Ramkumar's checklist is to get more consistent with his results, as well as knock more on the doors of the ATP 500 and 1000 tournaments. To put it quite simply, go to the next level.
"I'm on the right track. It's a tough sport, where everyone is aiming to be the top-50 or 60, because that's where the real money and real everything is. Everyone wants to get into the top league."
With a jump of 46 places to reach his career-best world ranking of 115 after the Hall of Fame Open run, Ramkumar has certainly taken a giant step towards that.
Ramkumar at Hall of Fame Open
Round of 32: beat Victor Estrella Burgod 6-4 6-1
Round of 16: beat Denis Kudla 4-6 6-3 6-4
Quarterfinals: beat Vasek Pospisil 7-5 6-2
Semifinals: beat Tim Smyczek 6-4 7-5
Finals: lost to Steve Johnson 5-7 6-3 2-6
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