Four Indian tennis players will be a part of the qualifying rounds at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, which began on Monday.
Karman Kaur Thandi and Ankita Raina will be a part of the women’s singles section of the qualifiers. Twenty-year old Karman, the world number 207, will take on Jennifer Brady of the United States. The Indian number two will have it tough against Brady, who is slotted 92 places above her in the WTA rankings.
Ankita Raina, two world ranks higher than Thandi, will face Myrtille Georges of France. Georges, the 28-year-old world number 238, has made it to the main draw of the Australian Open before in 2017. Both Indians are unseeded in the qualifiers.
Ramkumar Ramanathan, seeded 21st in the qualifying draw, will take on Sergio Gutierrez-Ferrol of Spain, ranked 233rd in the world. Ramkumar, should he make the third round of qualifiers, may possibly face Spain’s Tommy Robredo for a shot at the main draw.
Prajnesh Gunneswaran, India’s number one male tennis player, is seeded sixth and will start his qualifying campaign against Croatia’s Victor Galovic. The 29-year-old may face Donald Young of the United States, who made the third round of the Australian Open back in 2014 and has reached the main draw nine times in his career.
