Three Indian tennis players are eyeing entry to the main round of the men's singles competition at the US Open 2017, scheduled to begin August 28. A steep task awaits all of them in the US Open 2017 qualifying stages, beginning Tuesday August 22.
Yuki Bhambri, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Ramkumar Ramanathan are the three stars, chasing for glory. Apart from Bhambri, none of them have ever made it to the main round of a grand slam tennis tournament.
While Bhambri and Ramanathan have made it to the 2nd qualifying rounds of the US Open tennis tournament previously, Gunneswaran is relatively a fresher. The worst part is that none of them are seeded and are set to face stiff challenges on their way to reaching a personal milestone.
Schedule of matches (all India times)
Date: August 22
- Fixture: P Gunneswaran vs Yannick Hanfmann (133)
- Time: 8:30 pm
Date: August 23
- Fixture: Yuku Bhambri vs Go Soeda (131)
- Time: 1:40 am
- Fixture: Ramanathan vs Paul-Henri Mathieu (213)
- Time: 8:30 pm
The three Indians are in the 128-man draw. While Bhambri and Gunneswaran are in the top half, Ramanathan is in the bottom half.
How can the trio qualify to the main rounds of US Open 2017?
Officially, 16 out of the 128 participating in the qualifiers can progress to the main stage. A player has to ideally play more than one match in the qualifying stage to seal the main round entry.
- In case of Bhambri, a win against the Japanese Go Soeda could see the Indian take on Alexander Bublik in the finalqualifying round.
- In case of a win for Gunneswaran against Hanfmann, the Indian will take on Sergiy Stakhovsky in the final qualifying round.
- In case of a win for Ramanathan against Frenchman Mathieu, the Indian could very well be set to take on the experienced customer Nicolas Mahut.
Previous US Open tennis records
- Yuki Bhambri: Qualifying round 2 (2012, 2014)
- Prajnesh Gunneswaran: None
- Ramkumar Ramanathan: Qualifying round 2 (2015)
