Prajnesh Gunneswaran thread

[prashanthm]

Great win by Prajnesh.... Hope becomes the coveted Clay monster that none of the Indians could become.......

[jayakris]

Excellent work, Prajnesh. Great news to wake up to. I too don't remember a red clay title in Europe by any of our guys for a long long time. Jay

[PKBasu]

Third set

Prajnesh makes a good start with a hold at love.
1-0 And this time he converts the first breakpoint that he got at 30-40.
2-0 And he holds at 30.
3-0 Prajnesh breaks again after saving a couple of game points to get an insurance break.
4-0 And he holds at love.
5-0 And from 40-15 down he break again to take the match & the title.
6-0

At $10K Denmark F2, Aarhus (clay)

[F] (3) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND,627) d. (4) Colin VAN BEEM (NED,663) 63 46 60

After playing close to his opponent & missing a lot of opportunities in the first 2 sets, Prajnesh just went after him in the third set & did not give Van Beem any chance at all.

Fabulous!! Congratulations to Prajnesh, who receives just rewards for his persistent perseverance on European clay to pick up a Futures title on the stuff. Astonishing achievement. I recall Karan Rastogi winning a clay Futures in Morocco (15K) many years ago, but this is the first one on red clay in Europe that I can recall any Indian winning in at least a decade.

[sameerph]

This win is not about points or money. Its about proving you can do it in European circuit. Apart from RamK no one did well here. Not even Vishnu.

Totally agree. Even RamK reached the futures final last month in Spain on hard courts. ( Still notable since he is only 19). So, this is something special from Prajnesh .

I recall Karan Rastogi winning a clay Futures in Morocco (15K) many years ago, but this is the first one on red clay in Europe that I can recall any Indian winning in at least a decade.

True, PKB. Karan won 10K Morocco futures title in July 2007. That was the last title won on clay by an Indian although technically it was not in Europe.

[jayakris]

I too could remember only Karan's title in Morocco as a red clay title abroad over the last couple of decades. Though the field was a tad bit weaker than what we usually find in western Europe (may be), this is certainly an impressive title by the 23 year old. Jay

[kaustav]

Congratulation to him..Hope he can make it big in future...

[Prashant]

Excellent! Congratulations to Prajnesh, and I hope this is the start of a climb...

[sameerph]

Tougher field awaits Prajnesh this week as he is only 7th seed.

At $10K Denmark F3, Copenhagen (clay)

[R1] (7) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND,627) vs. Milos SEKULIC (SWE,761)

This week will test his fitness level playing second conseutive week in a tougher field.

[sameerph]

This facebook page of Schuttler Waske Tennis university has photograph with Prajnesh holding the trophy for last week's title. It also has a nice video below of Prajnesh being interviewed alongwith his travelling coach from the university Sönke Capell & also some glimpses of Prajnesh playing-

Schüttler Waske Tennis-University

Nice to Prajnesh going there alongwith a coach which I guess is not so common with players at futures level specially for Indians. That should certainly be helpful for improvement in these players.

[PKBasu]

Prajnesh is at a career-high 619 in singles this week -- but his 18 points from last week's singles title will only be recognized next Monday (Aug 5th), when his ranking will jump to around 530 (with 56 points, from 38 currently).

[Omkara]

At $10K Denmark F3, Copenhagen (clay)

[R1] (7) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND,627) l Milos SEKULIC (SWE,761) 0-6

He retired.

Surprisingly he won only 7 points in 1st set vs 24 points won by opponent

[sameerph]

Damn, he still needs to improve his fitness levels. Retiring in the very first match after winning a title is not a good sign.

[jayakris]

Seeing the scoreline, he was out of this match right away. So it may not be due to being physically tired. He may have fallen ill or something, I have to suspect. Hopefully no injury that he had from the final last week. Jay

[sameerph]

Prajnesh is back on the circuit this week & is choosing to go to places where Indian players have seldom travelled in the past. This week he is playing in Poland.

At $15K Poland F3, Bydgoszcz ( red clay)

[R1] (8) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND,529) vs. Patryk JANIK (POL,1615)

[sameerph]

Prajnesh starts with an easy win.

At $15K Poland F3, Bydgoszcz ( red clay)

[R1] (8) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND,529) d. Patryk JANIK (POL,1615) 62 61