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Indian pair Ramkumar Ramanathan and Anirudh Chandrasekar scripted a remarkable victory to clinch the men's doubles title at the Lexington Open 2025 ATP Challenger tennis tournament in Kentucky.
The second-seed all Indian pair trounced the Chinese Taipei duo of Yu Hsiou Hsu and Ray Ho Huang in straight sets by 6-4, 6-4 to secure the crown in a contest that lasted for an hour and eight minutes. Ramanathan and Chandrasekar raised the ante with their scorching serves and produced five aces throughout the contest. Across both sets, the Indian pair kept the opposition on their toes and broke their serves to seal the fate of the final. The victory marked Ramanathan's 11th ATP Challenger doubles title of his career, and his partner Anirudh bagged his eighth Challenger crown in Kentucky. Ramanathan, who has a men's doubles silver medal at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, also holds two ATP 250 titles. Both of his victories came with the seasoned Rohan Bopanna in 2022. In February earlier this year, Ramanathan and Anirudh stood on opposite sides in the men's doubles event at the Bengaluru Open. Ramanathan partnered with India's Saketh Myneni, while Anirudh teamed up with Ray Ho of Chinese Taipei. After a stellar run in the tournament, Ramanathan and Anirudh encountered each other in the semi-final to fight for the right to compete for the trophy. In a contest that went right down the wire, Ramanathan and his compatriot fell short and succumbed to a 4-6, 6-2, 8-10 defeat. Ramanathan also endured heartbreak after being ousted during the Maha Open ATP Challenger 100 Men's Tennis Championship. In the final qualifying round, seventh-seeded Kimmer Coppejans of Belgium prevailed against Davis Cupper Ramanathan 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-0 in a 2-hour 3-minute match. Ramkumar showed glimpses of brilliance in the second set, but went down in the third set as he could not maintain the same tempo and fell flat in his attempts to qualify for the main draw. (ANI)
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