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

[suresh]

Yeah, 2018 has been the year where our current top players, Prajnesh and Ankita, have surprised all of us with their progress as well as tenacity.

[vparam]

Yeah, 2018 has been the year where our current top players, Prajnesh and Ankita, have surprised all of us with their progress as well as tenacity.

And Ram K and Yuki continue to disappoint! Outside of reaching the finals of Newport on grass, what has Ram K done this year that has exceeded our expectations? Not much to add about Yuki. Along with his injuries and his questionable scheduling, I am expecting a further downward spiral in his rankings for 2019. Prajesh is our only hope at this point on the men's side and glad to see he is on his way to a top 100 ranking.

[sameerph]

These are the second round match-ups -

[R2] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,110) vs. (Q) Lukas Gerch (GER,794)

[R2] (WC) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,355) vs. (6) Jay Clarke (GBR,181)

[R2] (WC) Arjun Kadhe (IND,370) vs. Brayden Schnur (CAN,189)

All matched one after another starting from 1 pm local time tomorrow. Hope to see at least 2 Indians in the QF. Will need either Mukund or Arjun to pull off a top 200 upset for that to happen.

[PKBasu]

Yes, very surprising to see Ramkumar go down so tamely to Arjun Kadhe, who himself had been struggling for singles form in recent months. Of course, the fact that it is his home tournament may have helped Arjun a bit. That is of course a huge win for him -- and he deserves big congratulations. I hope Arjun can sustain the form and momentum into today's match and the rest of the tournament.

[Sin Hombre]

Ram is not that big a scalp. He performs well in one in 5 tournaments.

[RohitG]

Mukund was a break up against Jay Clarke.. and then he had some sort of implosion to lose the set 5-7

[suresh]

Mukund wins the second set 6-4. On to the third set now.

[RohitG]

Mukund wins. Yet another QF appearance

[suresh]

Yes, Clarke retires after he goes down two breaks in the third set.

@RohitG What was the injury to Clarke? He did take a medical timeout.

[R2] (WC) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,355) d (6) Jay Clarke (GBR,181) 5-7, 6-4 4-1 retd.

Next up, he will potentially face the top seed Radu Albot.

[PKBasu]

Very impressive stuff from Mukund. Always good to see a 21 year old Indian beat one of the world's top 20 year old players!

Mukund of course has quietly become the top under-22 (i.e., 21 and under) Indian player, overtaking Sumit after the latter had a poor year by comparison while Mukund has had a few excellent Challenger performances in 2018. Mukund now at a career-high 337 in the live rankings.

[subodhv]

Yes, it is 5th challenger QF appearance for Mukund. Hope he makes it at least to the semis this time round. He rises to 291 in the new ranking system.

[RohitG]

@Suresh no clue about the injury. In the last game he didn't make any effort to retrieve

Meanwhile, Kadhe lost in straight sets against the Canadian and now Prajnesh is playing his match. He takes the first set 6-1. Manages to break Gerch in the second too

[sameerph]

Easy win for Prajnesh.

[R2] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,110) d. (Q) Lukas Gerch (GER,794) 61 63

[R2] (WC) Arjun Kadhe (IND,370) l. Brayden Schnur (CAN,189) 57 26

So, 2 Indians in the QF.

[QF] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,110) vs. Alexander Nedovyesov (KAZ,186)

[QF] (WC) Arjun Kadhe (IND,370) vs. (1) Radu Albot (MDA,102)

[sameerph]

Yes, it is 5th challenger QF appearance for Mukund. Hope he makes it at least to the semis this time round.

Yes, somewhat strange sort of year for Mukund. He has had 5 challenger quarter finals which is one of the better challenger success ratios among Indians playing challengers in last few year. All of his first 4 QF's came after having to qualify in which makes it even more creditable.

However, his first 2 QF's came in April and next 3 in succession now. In between from April to October, he played 12 challengers where he failed to qualify in. What made his play at such a low level after showing great spark in April. Good thing is he is playing back at that level again now and a bit better.

[Omkara]

Easy win for Prajnesh.

[R2] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,110) d. (Q) Lukas Gerch (GER,794) 61 63

[R2] (WC) Arjun Kadhe (IND,370) l. Brayden Schnur (CAN,189) 57 26

So, 2 Indians in the QF.

[QF] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,110) vs. Alexander Nedovyesov (KAZ,186)

[QF] (WC) Arjun Kadhe (IND,370) vs. (1) Radu Albot (MDA,102)

Guess it's Mukund who is in qf