Davis Cup: Ramkumar battles past fighting Schnur in 4-setter

Edmonton, September 16 : A dogged Ramkumar Ramanathan battled past a fighting Brayden Schnur in a marathon four-setter to give India a 1-0 lead over Canada on day one of the Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie, here on Friday.The 22-year-old Ramkumar, ranked 154, outlasted the impressive debutant 5-7 7-6(4) 7-5 7-5 in the first singles, which lasted three hours and 16 minutes.
The Chennai lad thus remains unbeaten in the Davis Cup in 2017 season, having won all five matches he has played. Yuki Bhambri will now take on world number 51 Denis Shapovalov in the second singles. A powerful serve was the most potent weapon for Ramkumar but lack of pace in his strokes often made him vulnerable, of which Schnur took advantage many a times in the contest. Ramkumar wriggled out of crunch situations with his gritty serving and saved as many as 15 of the 18 breakpoints which indeed titled the energy-sapping match in his favour. More often than not, the Indian served wide and deep to the left of the Schnur, making the returns difficult, which helped him open the court for easy winners.