Perhaps the only positive from a tournament the top 12 Indian men and two women didn’t think was worthy of their time was that the singles titles went to players whose best years are, hopefully, ahead of them. Step forward Ramkumar Ramanathan and Ankita Raina.
Ramanathan is 18 and
a former national junior champion; Raina is 20 and won the national grasscourt title in 2009.
Unseeded Ramanathan won 6-2, 6-1 while Raina, India No. 3 too had an easy title round match beating Goa’s Natasha Palha 6-1, 6-2.
Nadal in semifinals
Sao Paulo: Rafael Nadal advanced to the semifinals of the Brazil Open here late Friday, with a three-set win over Argentine Carlos Berlocq.
The Spaniard, ranked number five in the world, won 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours 24 minutes against the 30-year-old Argentine.