Ramkumar Ramanathan, who finished as the runner-up at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championship after a 5-7, 6-3, 2-6 loss to Steve Johnson in the final, is third-lowest ranked player to reach a tour-level final in 2018.

The 23-year-old was playing only his third ATP World Tour event of the year, after a wildcard at the Maharashtra Open and qualifying for the Delray Beach Open back in January and February respectively. He has never won a Challenger title, he hasn’t played in the main draw of a Grand Slam despite 12 qualifying attempts, and the only time he reached the third round of the qualifying was at the Australian Open earlier this year, where he lost to Vasek Pospisil 4-6, 6-4, 4-6.

He faced the Canadian Pospisil again, in the quarter-finals of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championship in Newport. It was only his third quarter-final on the ATP World Tour, and he had lost the first two he played in – Chennai, 2016, and Antalya, 2017. But this was a different Ramkumar.

Playing on the grass of Newport, this was the player who had not only snapped his five-match losing streak, but also stunned eighth seed Denis Kudla fighting from a set down. And this time, he used his serve to good effect to beat the Canadian and reach his first-ever semi-final on the ATP Tour. Another strong win brought him into his first final on the tour, becoming the first Indian since Somdev Devvarman to reach the summit clash of an ATP event.

That he didn’t win the title won’t take away anything from what was a terrific tennis from the young Indian who has a career-best ranking of 115. For many, he exceeded expectations with his performance, but for the ones who have seen his game in action, he showed what he is capable of on the big stage. With a big serve, a huge reach and agile movement across the court, the Chennai-born, Spain-trained player has the tools to crack into the top 100 and play on the tour more consistently. And with this final appearance, he has made the first step towards this.

Many chances and some nerves

In the final at Newport, Ram had his fair share of chances to lift the trophy. He started with a love hold – the perfect beginning with his serve looking good. He played a classic grass-court game, serving and volleying with some punchy pick-ups at the net on return. He looked steady, bending low to retrieve, covering the court well to return and sending down a generous number of aces. But even as Johnson struggled on serve early on, he managed to hold on after a nervy eighth game. At 4-4 in the first set, Ram had five aces and no double faults to Johnson’s zero aces and four double faults.

In hindsight, this was the moment to attack the American’s serve a little more, charge on the returns maybe, but after 10 straight holds of serve, it was the third seed who got the first break.

Johnson went 30-0 up on Ram’s serve and then sent down a gorgeous inside-out forehand passing winner that threaded the eye needle and brought up the breakpoint. Ram’s reliable serve was under pressure and, on his second serve, he couldn’t return a dipping slice, sending the ball into the net to give up the break.

Serving for the set, Johnson began reading anticipating Ram’s returns at the net and with his own brand of serve and volley, won the first set 7-5.

On his part, Ram kept returning to Johnson’s already formidable forehand and despite his flat strokes, the ball did enough to give the American time to respond. The passing winners were another good example of where Johnson was better, he was able to circumnavigate when Ram came closer to the net, and that made a big difference.

The second set saw Ram fight off a break point in the very first game. Johnson fell down on the baseline yet managed to get back up and continue the rally to win the point and get a chance to break early.

But the Indian managed a gritty hold with a smart volley and controlled tennis under pressure and a curtain of rain. This was the turning point, of sorts, as Ram held triple break points in the very next game and became the first player to break Steve Johnson’s serve at Newport, fittingly with a passing shot.

Johnson, who had injured his shoulder during the match, needed a medical time out but came back stronger to almost put the set back on serve. Ram responded with his first double fault of the match, went a break down and almost gave up the match. But this is when he showed how big a weapon his huge serve can be as he sent a sizzling serve down the middle and then held for 5-2.

Serving for the set, he showed his first real signs of nerves in an uncharted area as the game went to deuce twice. On his second set point, Ram got out of the way of a lob that just kissed the line and Johnson sniffed an opportunity to close out the match early. These are moments where experience counts a lot, and it looked like Ram could crumble. But after three set points and as many second serves, the Indian held his nerve and has forced a decider in the final after another shot sailed long.

Johnson took another trainer break but came into the third set a refreshed man. He got a break point in Ram’s first service game and used his cracking forehand to get what turned out to be the decisive break. The next game went to deuce and the Indian kept attacking to get a break back. But the American, who has played four finals before, used his experience and began reading the shots and responding accordingly.

The Indian didn’t give in, chasing everything to get back on serve. He crunched a forehand with two huge, side-to-side leaps which drew applause. But it just wasn’t enough. Serving to stay in the match, he committed another double fault – his fourth – and another passing winner from Johnson gave him the championship point.

Space to grow

But despite the runner-up finish, the smile didn’t fade from Ram’s face. This was a big match in his career, and the many positives from the game will only allow him the space to grow. He had just dropped on set below the final and was using his serve much better on grass. His last big win had also come on grass, when he beat Dominic Thiem at Antalya. But from Turley to US, he has honed his skill.

“He knows how to play in Newport,” Johnson said after the win. “He’s very good at the net. I thought I hit a lot of good returns down at the feet and he hit some great volleys. I was just fortunate to get an early break in the third and keep the momentum.”

The grass of Newport has always had a special connection with Indian tennis, with Leander Paes lifting the title back in 1998 and Vijay Amritraj winning it three times before. Now, it will also be the court that will give one of India’s most promising young talents the jumpstart he needed to first reach and then make deeper inroads into the ATP World Tour.

While he won’t play the US Open qualifiers due to the Asian Games, he will take a huge amount of confidence into the hard-court season, where he played in the main draw of a Masters event for the first time last year.