'Prakash is under-ranked'

Sat, May 17 01:00 AM

A TALL figure and broad shouldered, Rajeev Ram of the USA, has a lazy but dominating presence that can be compared to another of his kind, Riquelme in football. The 24-year-old player from Indianapolis is partnering Prakash Amritraj in the SAIL Open, part of the ATP Challenger series.

The semi-Indian, who turned pro in 2004 is currently ranked 39th in the doubles ranking. Ram's father hails from Bangalore.

His parents moved to USA in 1981 and Ram was born soon after in 1984. "It feels nice to have defeated the top seeds like Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-haq Quereshi.

Prakash and I are gelling well," said Rajeev. "It is really very nice to play in this tournament along with Prakash, who is a very good player.

He is ranked way below par. Going by his abilities, he should be ranked much higher, " he added.

Ram and Amritraj have only paired up for this tournament, as Rajeev will be soon leaving to play in the French Open, along with his American partner Bobby Reynolds. "My partnership with Prakash is only for this tournament as I am looking to compete in the Grand Slams.

Prakash though, will take some time to play in a Grand Slam, as his ranking is pretty low. We both are working hard to raise our game.

I am also working to raise my singles game and improve my ranking, which is currently 282nd in the world", Rajeev said. Rajeev also featured in the Chennai Open, early this year, and was eliminated by the top seed Rafael Nadal in straight sets.

"Playing against better or higher ranked opponents is what I prefer. In such matches, you analyse your mistakes and determine what could have been done to avoid it.

You also realise the weaknesses of the better players, and how you can capitalise on their mistakes. Though I lost my match against Nadal, there were some moments, where I could have dented his pride him", he said.

However, the pair of Amritraj and Ram lost to the all-Australian pair of Colin Ebelthite and Samuel Groth in straight sets 4-6, 4-6 in the semifinals of the doubles category. The Indo-American pair was completely outplayed in a match that lasted just under two hours.

Rajeev's serve was broken in the seventh game of the first set as the Australian pair served out the first set, with some glorious net play from Groth. Ram lost his serve in the first game of the second set as well.

Both the teams then stayed on serve as Groth ended the match, with a big service game to end the match and book a place in the finals for their team.In other match the top seed, Yen-Hsun Lu demolished fourth seed Go Soeda in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 to enter a final of the tournament.

Lu will face Brendon Evans of the USA, whose opponent Kristian Pless of the Denmark retired in the second game of the match due to severe illness.

RECOMMEND THIS STORY