$150K(+H) Bangalore/$50K(+H) Pune Challenger, Nov.12-25, 2018

[meyyis]

It was 4 out of 4 for our Singles players today, with the result being that they square against each other in the Quarters.
Prajnesh is the only seeded player left in the draw with all other 7 seeds lose in the first 2 rounds.

[R2] (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND,310) d. James Ward (GBR,199) : 6-3, 7-6
[R2] (Q) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) d. Blaz Kavcic (SLO,196) : 7-6, 3-1 (Retd)
[R2] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,315) d. Youssef Hossam (EGY,483) : 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
[R2] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,141) d. (Q) Sebastin Fanselow (GER,431) : 4-6, 6-4, 7-5

Up Next

[QF] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,315) vs. (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND,310)
[QF] (Q) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) vs. (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,141)

[meyyis]

In Doubles

Bala and Vishnu yet to play their QF match. Hope they win and take their place in the other SF, increasing the possibility of an All Indian Final.

[QF] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) d. Blaz Kavcic (SLO)/ Tristan-Samuel Weissborn (AUT) - W/O
[QF] Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) d. (WC) S.D. Prajwal Dev (IND)/ Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND) 6-3, 7-6
[QF] (3) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Max Purcell (AUS)/ Luke Saville (AUS)

Up Next

[SF] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) vs. Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND)

[meyyis]

With his R2 win today, Prajnesh is now closing in on Ramk and Yuki in the rankings, in the race to become the new Ind#1 in Singles. He has moved to a NCH of 135 in the Live rankings. Yuki is at #126 and Ramk is at #129 in Live Rankings now. If he wins his next match (the QF against Sasi), he will leap frog RamK to become the Ind#2. Another win after that will propel him to the Ind#1 slot. Go Gunner

[PKBasu]

What a fantastic day of tennis for us in Bangalore. Delightful to see four Indians in the singles QF and Indians dominating in doubles as usual. The huge upsets by Mukund and Sumit today were particularly impressive, and it's great to see Prajnesh sustain his great year into this big home tournament. (It would be entirely appropriate if he becomes India #1 after this tournament). Nice to see Saketh's comeback going great guns too.

[PKBasu]

Mukund now at a new career-high live ranking of 354, finally beginning to live up to his potential at 21. (He is 6 months older than Sumit).

[suresh]

Just saw that Prajnesh won! What a pleasant surprise after I gave up towards the end of the third set when Prajnesh missed a chance to break Fanselow. Yes, Prajnesh will go past RamK with a win in the QF.

[PKBasu]

Sadly Vishnu/Balaji lost their doubles QF to Purcell/Savill 67(3) 36.

So no Indians in the other doubles SF, while one SF will feature Saketh/Arjun vs Purav/Antonio. Arjun is now at a career high doubles ranking of 166.

[jaydeep]

Terrific results in the singles ... Excellent wins by Sumit and Mukund ... Good to see Prajnesh made fightback ... Saki is playing well but he needs to remain fit to play regularly on the tour.

[arjun2761]

Wow, amazing run by the Indians to take 4 QF spots. While I normally root for the youngsters, hoping that Prajnesh wins the title here and gets close to the top 100 based on a really strong and consistent year from him.

[Rajiv]

Wonderfull to see Prajnesh snatch victory from the jaws of defeat , and with 4 players in the QF , show's how much difference a home tournament makes , How I wish if only we could have more such tournament's at home for our players to benefit from.

For Pune, Marco Trumgelliti the 3rd in the list has withdrawn , and the cut now has now dropped to 281

[PKBasu]

A friend of mine who watched Sumit play James Ward yesterday was very impressed with his play, but also noted that he was very rude to the umpire...

[suresh]

[QF] (Q) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) l (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,141) retirement

Don't know what happened but Mukund retired without playing a single point. Did he pick up a niggle or something? This would have been Mukund's sixth match this week. Prajnesh is now the new India #2.

[vishalg]

[QF] (Q) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) l (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,141) retirement

Don't know what happened but Mukund retired without playing a single point. Did he pick up a niggle or something? This would have been Mukund's sixth match this week. Prajnesh is now the new India #2.

He played 3 points before retiring. He was holding his lower back and seemed to be in considerable pain. Don't know if he will be able to to play next week.

[suresh]

Thanks Sameer for the clarification. Looks like the three points were done while I was checking out the other match. Hope Mukund gets better soon and is able to play next week. He is in such good nick.

[PKBasu]

Sad end to Mukund’s great campaign this week.
Prajnesh jumps to a new career high of #128, and is just two spots below the perennially injured India #1. Prajnesh is #13 on the all-time India ranking list, just behind ZEeshan Ali (CH 126).