India's Ramkumar Ramanathan takes on top seed and world number 6 Marin Cilic in the second round of the ongoing Maharashtra Open at Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune on Wednesday, January 3.
Ramkumar is heading into the match on the back of 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over higher-ranked Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain in his tournament opener on Monday, January 1.
The world number 148 used his big-serving ability to good effect, sending down eight aces to dominate the second set after holding composure to win a tiebreaker in the first set.
'Will give my best shot'
Ramkumar though faces one of his biggest tests early in the year in his first career meeting against Cilic on Wednesday.
The Chennai lad achieved the biggest win of his career so far when he defeated world number five Dominic Thiem in straight sets in Antalya Open last year, which was also his first meeting against a top-10 player.
Ramkumar though seems to know the difficulty of the task in hand. However, the crowd favourite is confident of putting a stiff fight on Wednesday.
"I have a lot of respect for him [Cilic], but I will give my best shot. Whatever happens, happens. You can expect me to give a good fight," Ramkumar said, as quoted by The Indian Express.
On the other hand, Cilic -- the two-time champion -- is heading into the tournament on the back of a poor run at the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals.
The former US Open champion, who reached the final of Wimbledon last year, though would want to start the year on a high and a good run in Pune will set him up nicely for Australian Open, starting January 15.
When does the match start and how to watch it live
The second-round match between Ramkumar Ramanathan and Marin Cilic will not start before 6:30 pm local time, 1 pm GMT on Wednesday.
TV schedule and live streaming information
India and subcontinent: TV: Sony Ten 2/HD; Live streaming: Sony Liv
Worldwide live streaming: Tennis TV
