Davis Cup: Italy's Seppi brushes aside Ramkumar in straight sets

Italian Andreas Seppi made short work of India's second highest ranked Ramkumar Ramanathan by winning 6-4, 6-2 in their first Davis Cup World Group rubber at the Calcutta South Club here on Friday. Ramanathan, ranked 133rd in the world, got off to a decent start but failed to captitalize on two break points in the first set which was closely fought till 4-4 before the 37th ranked Seppi used his reservoir of experience to down his much younger opponent.

It was an Italian gamble to name Seppi their first player ahead of World No. 19 Marco Cecchinato, who had ousted World No. 1 Novak Djokovic from the French Open quarters last year. The 34-year-old, who is not used to playing on grass, took time to get used to the surface but once he did the tie became a lopsided affair.

At 5-4, Seppi won four points in a row to seal the first set in style. In the second set, the Italian toyed with Ramkumar hitting clinical forehands (17 winners) even as the lanky Chennai player tried to forge a comeback in the third game.

The big-serving Ramanathan hit eight aces but paid the price for his inconsistency with six double faults as opposed to Seppi's two.