India’s top two ranked singles tennis players Yuki Bhambri and Ramkumar Ramanathan stormed into the final of the $50,000 KPIT-MSLTA Challenger tournament in Pune with straight-sets wins in their respective semi-finals on Friday.
Third seed Yuki Bhambri made light work of the second seed Adrian Menendez-Maceiras 6-2, 6-4 while Ramkumar overcame the challenge of Saketh Myneni in the other all-Indian semi-final at the Mhalunge-Balewadi Tennis Complex.
He's done it! @yukibhambri reaches the finals of the #KPITChallenger Tour 2017🎾💟
— KPIT Challenger Tour (@KPITChallenger) November 17, 2017
The #King wins comfortably over #Maceiras (6/2), (6/4). 🎆💓 #AceOnIndia 🇮🇳🎖🏆 pic.twitter.com/fmcA2eSWoj
Saketh, who needed a wildcard to enter the main draw and had knocked out top seed Blaz Kavcic in the quarter-finals on Thursday, could not get past compatriot Ramkumar, losing 6-3 6-2.
Calm and composed @ramkumar1994 wins his #Semifinal clash against @SakethMyneni 🎆💃 Some decimation that was! 🏋🏆👏 #AceOnIndia 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/BYjBXtFw3X
— KPIT Challenger Tour (@KPITChallenger) November 17, 2017
Yuki Bhambri (140), who had won the event in 2014 and Ramkumar Ramanathan (148) entered season-ending ATP Challenger event as the top two seeds among Indian players. The singles champion will get 80 ATP points, while the runners up will get 48. These points are on par with that of a $75,000 tournament.