Ramkumar, Raja-Sharan pair out of Wimbledon qualifiers

Ramkumar Ramanthan played his heart out before losing a tight second round singles match while Purav Raja and Divij Sharan bowed out of the men's doubles in the first round of the qualifiers at Wimbledon on Thursday.

Up against German 21st seed and world No 130, the 21-year-old Indian lost 6-7(5), 6-7(3), bringing the curtains down on India's challenge in the singles qualifying event.

Saketh Myneni, the country's top singles player at No 150, lost in the first round to 23-year-old Frenchman Tristan Lamasine 6-4, 6-7(2), 1-6.

In the men's doubles qualifiers, the fourth-seeded Indian combo of Raja and Sharan lost 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-8 to the German team of Dustin Brown and Jan-Lennard Struff.

Rajan and left-handed Sharan had a good build-up to Wimbledon, winning two Challenger titles - in Manchester and Surbiton.

Yuki Bhambri is not competing as he is nursing an elbow injury. Yuki, Myneni and Ramanathan now have Davis Cup assignment next as India host Korea in the Asia/Oceania Group I tie in Chandigarh on grass courts, next month.

IMAGE: India’s Purav Raja, left, and Divij Sharan pose with the trophy after winning the doubles title at the Aegon Manchester tournament.

Photograph: Daniel Smith/Getty Images for LTA