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Patna : Qualifier Ramkumar Ramnathan, 26, India, crashed out of ATP Qatar ExxonMobil Open at Doha, Qatar, losing to World No 44 Alexander Bublik, 23, Kazakhstan, in first round on March 8, 2021. Bublik beat World No 201 Ramkumar Ramnathan in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 winning 3 break points and 3 games in a row during the match. Bublik, in all, won 68 points in the match to 50 by Ramnathan. Bublik fired 7 Aces in the match to 4 by the Indian.
World No 45 Aslan Karatsev, 27, Russia, reached the 2nd round of the tournament defeating Mubarak Shannan Zayid, 25, Qatar, 6-4, 6-0 in 64 minutes in first round winning 4 break points and 7 games in a row during the match. Karatsev had reached the semi-finals of Australian Open 2021. Karatsev will face top seed Dominic Thiem, 27, Austria, in 2nd round on March 10, 2021.
World No 42 Nikoloz Basilashvili, 29, Georgia, defeated World No 41 John Millman, 31, Australia, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to enter 2nd round of the tournament rallying back from one set down. Basilashvili won 6 break points in the match to 5 by Millman. Both the players won 3 games each in a row in the match. Basilashvili though won 78 points during the match to 70 by Millman. Basilashvili fired 7 Aces in the match to 3 by the Australian.