‘Top 150 is my immediate goal and then top 100 by the end of the year’

Two wild cards and one qualification and a best second round entry don’t really do justice to his talent and the local boy will soon find out whether he is going to be third time lucky at the Open. Chennai has not thrown up any big players since the Amritrajs and Krishnans in the sport and the closest to doing that was Somdev Devvarman, who had studied in Chennai in his early school days. Having got the wildcard for the second time in three years into the main draw of Chennai Open, Ramkumar, who was born in T Nagar but spends a lot of time in Barcelona training under coach Juan Balcells, feels this time he should make it count. DT Next spoke to the 21-year-old on the eve of the Chennai Open. Here are some excerpts from the same.

How do you look at the second wild card in Chennai Open? 

Last year I got a wild card but I lost to Tatsuma Ito of Japan in the first round. It was pretty close. I had my chances. No pressure this time, I will play freely and I will try to go for the shots. 

What has been the high point in the Chennai Open, till date? 

I beat Somdev Devvarman in the first round two years ago after I made it through the qualifiers.

How did you perform last year? 

I won a few Futures events (last year). I played in the Australian Open, French Open and US Open. I won in the qualifying rounds in two of them.

Everyone in the top 100 are tough players. I am enjoying every moment I spend on the court. 

 Undoubtedly, it is Roger Federer. From India, of course, Vijay Amritraj and Ramesh Krishnan are my role models. 

 I have been training under Balcells in Barcelona. I have been going off and on to Barcelona to train for almost four years now. I have improved my serve and forehand, which are my strengths. 

What are your expectations in the New Year? 

I will play at the Australian Open qualifiers. I want to play in as many tournaments as possible. Top 150 is my immediate goal and then top 100 by the end of the year. But I am not going to put undue pressure on myself going for these marks.