Yuki Bhambri gets the better of Ramkumar to qualify for Indian Wells main draw

Photo: PTI

Indian Wells: Yuki Bhambri outsmarted Ramkumar Ramanathan in the battle of top Indians to qualify for the Indian Wells ATP Masters event, his first 1000 series tournament in nine years. Yuki, seeded ninth in the qualifiers, prevailed 6-4 6-2 in the second and final qualifying round to make it to the season's first Master series event. Yuki now leads head-to-head record 3-1 against the 22-year-old Ramkumar.

The last time 25-year-old Yuki played at a Masters event was in 2009 at Miami. In his opening round in the main draw, Yuki will fight it out with fellow qualifier Nicolas Mahut, ranked 101, and if he manages to cross the first hurdle he will be up against world number 12 Lucas Pouille from France.