Prajnesh Gunneswaran thread

[PKBasu]

[Q1] (12) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,136) l. Marc-Andrea Huesler (SUI,303) 36 36

[Rajiv]

His opponent took out a 78th ranked player yesterday , so he seemed to be in a good playing form , positives for Praj from these 2 matches is that, a good workout coming in after a long break to get him in proper shape for the FO qualies

[arjun2761]

Chalk this loss to rust! I suspect Huesler was more match fit than Prajnesh having played some of those exhibition tournaments (including one in which I think he lost to Sumit). Hopefully, this will get Prajnesh back to being competitive in the French Open....

[Rajiv]

Today Prajnesh' conquer takes out another big scalp 93 ranked Finnish E Russuovuori, in addition to the 78th ranked Hungarian.
So Prajnesh lost to guy who is really on a hot streak.

[vparam]

Prajnesh' conquerer now thrashes Fognini 6-1, 6-2. Our boys can't catch a break. Sumit's conquerer at the U.S. Open is also on fire.

[Sin Hombre]

Sumit can't complain about the USO.

He barely got in and somehow got a lower ranked player in R1.

That's as lucky as it gets.

[Rajiv]

And now it is the turn of 57 ranked Fleciano Lopez to bite the dust.
This has been the most phenomenal winning streak of 5 straight wins by a 300+ ranked at a ATP250 seen in recent times where he has effortlessly taken care of # 78 , 136 ,92 ,12 , 57.

Having said this (and without taken away a single bit of rightful due credit from the Swiss) it also shows how much damage lack of tournament play does to a player, one can be practising for hours during the day, but finally it is the continious match/tournament play or lack of it which determines your true form.

[PKBasu]

Huesler lost the SF to Kecmanovic 26 75 36. Still a great run by him, and PG was a bit unlucky to have run into such a hot player in the final qualifying round.

[sameerph]

With his excellent run to the Cary Challenger SF last week, Prajnesh moved up to singles ranking of 137 this week just 2 spots behind Sumit. Last tournament of the year this week for him at Orlando Challenger. SF or better will move him ahead of Sumit as India #1 again.

[PKBasu]

Prajnesh ends 2020 as the India #1, although his great run of Challenger finals (2 in the US) and one SF (in Germany) did not move him up much -- to just 128 in the rankings -- partly because he always seems to do well in November. He needs to stay fit and active in the off-season, and come back strong for the pre-AO tournaments in January.

[RohitG]

Is there a chance he can make it to AO main draw like how Sumit did at US open ?

[sameerph]

There is no clarity still as to when the Aus open will take place. It all depends on what the rules are during 14 day mandatory quarentine. They are, saying top players will go there only if players are allowed to practice during that period. Otherwise, the field will be depleted. Some are saying that even qualies may be cancelled which will be quite disappointing for our players.

I do not understand why they are being this cautious about Aus open. Right now, I see a lot of spectators for Ind-Aus cricket match and hardly anyone is, wearing a mask.

[sameerph]

Prajnesh is back on challenger tour this week after a brief injury break. He is top seed in a challenger in South Africa.

At Potechfstroom Challenger 80, South Africa

[R1] (1) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND, 131) vs. Dimitar Kuzamnov (BUL, 278)

[Sanjay]

Even though PG is ranked much higher than Kuzmanov, I would say the chances are even with an edge to Kuzmanov.
I hope PG pulls this one out. Unfortunate that he is not playing the AO right now.

[Dinesh]

I can’t read this Bulgarian player, the odds (1.8 to 1.9) are slightly in favor of PG to win this match, I assume it will be a 3-set match regardless. GO Praj!!