$54K(+H) Bangkok 1,2 challenger,Thailand,February 2019

[Omkara]

is there a smiley for feeling relieved...

[jayakris]

is there a smiley for feeling relieved...

Apparently there is nothing good for it, but here are the ones that are called "relieved face" - https://emojipedia.org/relieved-face/

I don't think any of them work for what you are feeling. Definitely nothing as good as typing a "phew". So just use it, like PKB just did.

[RohitG]

That's because Prajnesh had 7 points dropping off this week. He has to reach the finals at least to make this three week challenger run worth of something. He is not in the entry lists for next week, neither is he in the entry list anywhere for 2nd Week of Indian Wells.

[sameerph]

Prajnesh takes the first set 76(5) against the Korean Kwon. Looks a close match though.

[sameerph]

And Prajnesh completes a straight sets win.

[R3] (1) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,97) d. (16) Soonwoo Kwon (KOR,225) 76(5) 64

He played the Japanese veteran Soeda next.

Next,

[QF] (1) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,97) vs. (9) Go Soeda (JPN,194)

[arjun2761]

Nice win by Prajnesh! Hopefully, he can go deep this week and solidify his position in the top 100...

[PKBasu]

Nice to see Prajnesh progress to the QF in straight sets. He still edges down to 99 in the live rankings.

But Troicki and Sugita lost, so the field is thinning out gradually...

[RohitG]

He wins in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.

[jayakris]

Walk in the park for Gunner today. Now for some big ATP points in the SF.

[QF] (1) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,97) d. (9) Go Soeda (JPN,194), 63 63
[SF] (1) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,97) vs. (15) James Duckworth (AUS,210)

[RohitG]

The reason for slide in his rankings is due to the huge strides of - Londero, Aliassime and Hugo Dellien. All three were ranked outside the top-100 and all have gone deep in the latin swing tournaments and are at new career highs. Londero (now #61) in fact won the Cordoba 250 event in his hometown.

[PKBasu]

Good to see Prajnesh seemingly getting better with each match, beating higher-quality opponents by larger margins. This bodes well for a couple more victories here in Bangkok. He is already at a new career high of 94 now.

[Atithee]

The reason for slide in his rankings is due to the huge strides of - Londero, Aliassime and Hugo Dellien. All three were ranked outside the top-100 and all have gone deep in the latin swing tournaments and are at new career highs. Londero (now #61) in fact won the Cordoba 250 event in his hometown.

That’s why I keep questioning our predictions based on future points because they seem to ignore what other players may achieve in the same period.

[PKBasu]

Occasionally some lower-ranked players will have a good run, but at other times higher level players will have a dismal time. So it isn't that difficult to predict what a player's ranking will be the next Monday based on what he has done this week.

Prajnesh's live ranking didn't "slide" this week, it edged lower in the earlier part of the week mainly because of last week's R1 loss. This week, he initially edged down to 99 from 97 after winning the first two rounds, but has now climbed to a career-high by making the SF.

[PKBasu]

If Prajnesh makes the final, he will rise to 92 in the live rankings, and if he wins the title he should be around 85 -- implying that he will be the 7th highest-ranked Indian in the Open era (ahead of Sashi Menon and Jasjit Singh).

[arjun2761]

Yes, this is not rocket science. There are websites which publish the "live rankings" where they take away the points lost in that week of the previous year and then add points as you win them.

Right now, two folks behind Prajnesh could realistically overtake him, Hugo Delien (if he wins his Rio QF) and Casper Ruud (if he gets to the Rio Final). So, Prajnesh will be around 85-87 if he wins the title. Two others have a remote chance to get past him but they will have to win Delray Beach and Marseille ATP tournaments to do so.