Australian Open 2018: Ramkumar Ramanathan puts up a gritty display to edge past Gleb Sakharov

A rain-induced mayhem at Melbourne Park was responsible for a day's delay for the Qualifying rounds to get underway. Relief came when the matches were taken into the inside courts and finally action could resume. In an hour and fifty minutes, 28^th seed India's  Ramkumar Ramanathan put up a gritty show of utmost resilience to register a 6-4 7-6(10) scoreline to edge past Gleb Sakharov of France in the Men's Singles qualifying round 2. The World no #141 is now into the final qualifying at the Australian Open and a win away to make it to the Main draw. The match began with a tight affair in the first set. But Ramkumar stepped the lead going up 4-3 and geting out of the long game. From there it was no looking back. Although the Frenchman was trying his life to sneak in, the Chennai star galloped further to take the set 6-4 from Sakharov. It was a tooth and nail fight in the second set. A very close battle and both were almost poised evenly all through the set. The excitement escalated when it peaked to a Tie breaker  that stretched way too long. Ramkumar  finally snatched the winning point to make it 12-10 in that intense tie-break and clinch victory over the Frenchman. The Indian hammered 17 Aces to take the thunderous match away from Sakharov who was just not willing to surrender.The 48% second serves as compared to 36% for Sakharov  was what made an impact for Ramkumar. The 23 Year-old from Chennai  is making a 10^th appearance at the Qualifying of a Slam but has never made it to the Main draw. He had reached this second qualifying round after a come from behind victory over the 29 year-old Bradley Klahn after dropping a set until turning the tables. This win over Sakharov  was a straight set victory which will certainly help Ramkumar to take on the final round with a boost of confidence. He will face Vasek Pospisil of Canada in the Final qualifying at Melbourne.