File photo of Ankita Raina.
Highlights
- The twin defeats to Indian players after Prajnesh and Yuki Bhambri won their respective matches
- World No.221 Prajnesh will next take on Germany's World No. 228 Maximilian Marterer on Wednesday
- Bhambri will be facing Czech Republic's World No. 130 Tomas Machac on Thursday
Indian tennis players Ramkumar Ramanathan and Ankita Raina made early exits in the Australian Open 2022 qualifiers draw with first-round losses in Melbourne on Tuesday.
ATP No. 182 Ramanathan, who is yet to make it to a Grand Slam main draw, lost in straight sets to World No. 197 Gian Marco Moroni 3-6, 5-7. WTA No. 104 Ankita Raina, on the other hand, suffered a pale 1-6, 0-6 defeat to World No. 120 Lesia Tsurenko.
The twin defeats to Indian players after Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Yuki Bhambri won their respective opening round matches at the Grand Slam.
Bhambri, who returned to the Grand Slam stage after the 2018 US Open due to a knee injury, beat his 248th ranked Portuguese rival 6-4 6-2 in just 68 minutes.
The 29-year-old Indian's serve looked decent and he played smartly as he charged the net to keep the points short.
Prajnesh, on the other hand, defeated higher-ranked Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan over straights sets 6-4, 6-4 to reach the second round.
World No. 221 Prajnesh will next take on Germany's World No. 228 Maximilian Marterer on Wednesday while Bhambri will be facing Czech Republic's World No. 130 Tomas Machac on Thursday.
