Unseeded Ramkumar Ramanathan of India pulled off an upset win against the top seeded Elias Ymer of Sweden to enter the final round qualifying of the PMRDA Powered Maha Open ATP Challenger 100 Men’s Tennis Championship organized by Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) in association with the Department of Sports and Youth Services Govt of Maharashtra, PCMC, PMC and PMDTA at the Mhalunge Balewadi Tennis Stadium.

The 30-year-old from Chennai, Ramkumar extracted his revenge of his Davis Cup loss against the top seeded Elias Ymer, winning 5-7,6-1,6-4 in a match that lasted for 1 hour and 52 minutes. The 28-year-old, Ymer, who had got past Ramanathan in the Davis Cup between India and Sweden played solidly to wrap up the first set, but Ramkumar progressed well with his serve and volley game, attacking Ymer to win the second set. Ramkumar, India ranked no. 2 player couldn't break Ymer in the third game , but did manage to get a break in the fifth game to win the match. Ramkumar, currently ranked 403 at world stage however served 9 aces in the match to move into the final round qualifying.

In the other two upsets of the day Russian Petr Bar Biryukov upset second seeded  Oleksandr Ovcharenko of Ukraine 6-3, 7-6(6) ,  while  Japanese  Hiroki Moriya  ousted fifth seeded Jacopo Berrettini  of Italy 7-5, 6-3
 
In the matches featuring other Indians, sixth seeded Russian Ilia Simakin took 1 hour 15 minutes to get past India's no. three ranked player Mukund Sasikumar winning  6-4, 6-3 to also advance to the final round qualifying. Twelfth seeded Matthew Dellavedova of Australia proved too experienced for 16-year-old wildcard Arnav Vijay Paparkar of India winning 6-2, 6-3. Paparkar showed glimpses of his quality but could not get past the experienced Australian. Former winner of the Maha Open ATP Tour and currently ranked 35 in the world, Jiri Vesely, who is making a comeback, proved strong for wildcard entrant and local favourite Siddhant Banthia winning 6-2, 6-3.

Eleventh seeded South African Kris Van Wyk was given a tough fight by wildcard entrant Nitin Kumar Sinha, before eventually winning 7-5, 7-5, while fourth seeded Blake Ellis of Australia quelled a first set challenge before accounting for another Indian wildcard Sidharth Rawat 7-5 ,6-2.

Results (First Qualifying Round):

Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt [1] Elias Ymer (SWE) 5-7, 6-1, 6-4; Petr Bar Biryukov bt [2] Oleksandr Ovcharenko (UKR) 6-3, 7-6(6); [3] Michael Geerts (BEL) bt [Alt] Yurii Dzhavakian (UKR) 6-0,6-2; [4] Blake Ellis (AUS) bt [WC] Sidharth Rawat (IND) 7-5,6-2; Hiroki Moriya (JPN) bt [5] Jacopo Berrettini (ITA)7-5, 6-3
[6] Ilia Simakin bt Mukund Sasikumar (IND) 6-4, 6-3 ; [7] Kimmer Coppejans (BEL) bt [Alt] Hynek Barton (CZE)  6-3, 7-6(5); [9] Masamichi Imamura (JPN) bt [Alt] Kasidit Samrej (THA) 3-6,7-6(4),6-4; [10] Jiri Vesely (CZE) bt [WC] Siddhant Banthia (IND) 6-2, 6-3; [11] Kris Van Wyk (RSA) bt [WC] Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND) 7-5, 7-5; [12] Matthew Dellavedova (AUS) bt [WC] Arnav Vijay Paparkar (IND) 6-2, 6-3

Photo Above: Indian Davis cupper Ramkumar Ramnathan in action against top seeded qualifier Elias Ymer of Sweden during the course of Maha Open ATP Challenger 100 Men’s Tennis Championship 2025