Prajnesh Gunneswaran

Prajnesh Gunneswaran (born 12 November 1989)[1] is an Indian tennis player.[2] He has won 2 ATP Challenger and 8 ITF titles in singles and 1 ITF title in doubles.[3] He is currently the highest ranked Indian singles player and represents India at the Davis Cup.[4] At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, he won the bronze medal in the men's singles event.

Prajnesh Gunneswaran
Country (sports) India
ResidenceChennai, India
Born (1989-11-12) 12 November 1989
Chennai, India
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
PlaysLeft-handed (two–handed backhand)
Prize money$771,756 (28 December 2020)
Singles
Career record9–24 (27.3% in ATP Tour and Grand Slam main draw matches, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
2 Challenger, 8 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 75 (22 April 2019)
Current rankingNo. 129 (28 December 2020)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open1R (2019, 2020)
French Open1R (2019)
Wimbledon1R (2019)
US Open1R (2019)
Doubles
Career record1–1 (50.0% in ATP Tour and Grand Slam main draw matches, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
0 Challenger, 1 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 248 (24 December 2018)
Current rankingNo. 729 (28 December 2020)
Last updated on: 22 March 2020.

Personal life

Prajnesh Gunneswaran is the son of Mr. S G Prabhakharan and Mrs. Usha. He got married to Sudarshana Pai in Ernakulam, Kerala in 2019.

Career

2016–2017: Early career

Gunneswaran mainly participated in ITF and ATP Challenger events in his early years. While he won 8 ITF Futures singles titles, he found limited success on the Challenger tour.

In October 2016, he reached his first ATP Challenger singles final at Pune Challenger. He lost the title match to Frenchman Sadio Doumbia.[5] In May 2017, he reached his first ATP Challenger doubles final at 2017 Samarkand Challenger. Partnering with compatriot Vishnu Vardhan, the pair lost the final to team of Laurynas Grigelis and Zdeněk Kolář.

Gunneswaran made his Davis Cup debut for India against Uzbekistan in April 2017.[6]

2018: 2 ATP Challenger titles, Asian games Bronze Medal

2018 proved to be breakthrough year for Gunneswaran. He reached four ATP Challenger singles finals, winning two of them. He won his first ATP Challenger singles title at the Kunming Open by defeating Mohamed Safwat in the final.[7] In an all-Indian final, he defeated Saketh Myneni at Bengaluru Open to lift his second Challenger singles trophy.[8] He finished as runner-up at the Ningbo Challenger and Pune Challenger. In April he also reached his second ATP Challenger doubles final at Santaizi ATP Challenger in Taipei, where he partnered with Saketh Myneni.[9]

At French Open, Gunneswaran lost in the final qualifying round. Although he was chosen as lucky loser after Nick Kyrgios withdrew from the competition, Gunneswaran could not participate in the main draw event as he had already left Paris before Kyrgios announced his withdrawal, thus failing to debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam event.[10]

In August, he won the bronze medal in the men's singles tennis event at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. He became the sixth Indian male athlete to win a medal in tennis at the Asian Games.[11]

Gunneswaran started the season as World No. 243 in singles ranking. With solid performance on the Challenger tour he finished the season on a career-high ranking of 104 and so became the highest ranked Indian singles player.

2019: Grand Slam main draw debut, Entry into top-100

Gunneswaran started the season by entering the Maharashtra Open, where he received a wild card into the main draw. He lost in the first round to Michael Mmoh in straight sets.[12]

At the Australian Open, he won the qualifying competition and debuted in the main draw of a Grand Slam event. He lost in the first round in straight sets to Frances Tiafoe.[13]

On 11 February 2019, he reached a career-high singles ranking of 97, debuting in the top-100 singles rankings.[14]

Gunneswaran came through the qualifying of the 2019 BNP Paribas Open and defeated Frenchman Benoit Paire in straight sets to enter the second round. He won his second round match against the 17th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili in three sets to make the third round of an ATP 1000 Tournament for the first time in his career. Gunneswaran's run at the Indian Wells Masters came to an end following a straight set defeat to Ivo Karlovic in the third round. This was Gunneswaran's maiden appearance at an ATP Masters event.[15] Next, he qualified for the Miami Open, a back-to-back main draw appearance at a Masters event. He lost in the opening round to Jaume Munar.

In April, Gunneswaran reached his season's first ATP Challenger singles final at the Anning Challenger. He was the defending champion and lost to British player Jay Clarke in the final. As a result, he rose to a career-high singles ranking of 75.[16] In July his ranking automatically enabled him entry to the main draw at Wimbledon, where he lost in the first round to Milos Raonic.

He lost to Daniil Medvedev at US Open in the 1st Round.

Challenger and Futures finals

Singles: 25 (10–15)
Legend (Singles)
ATP Challenger Tour (2–6)
ITF Futures Tour (8–9)
Titles by Surface
Hard (6–13)
Clay (4–2)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Jun 2013 India F6, Chennai Futures Hard Vijayant Malik 7–6(7–5), 6–3
Win 2–0 Jul 2013 Denmark F2, Aarhus Futures Clay Colin van Beem 6–3, 4–6, 6–0
Loss 2–1 Sep 2013 Egypt F26, Sharm El Sheikh Futures Clay Enrique López Pérez 0–6, 0–6
Loss 2–2 Sep 2015 India F12, Chennai Futures Hard Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan 6–7(8–10), 4–6
Loss 2–3 Nov 2015 India F16, Gwalior Futures Hard Ramkumar Ramanathan 3–6, 4–6
Win 3–3 Dec 2015 India F18, Jassowal Futures Hard Ronit Singh Bisht 6–4, 6–4
Loss 3–4 Dec 2015 India F19, Mumbai Futures Hard Ramkumar Ramanathan 3–6, 3–6
Loss 3–5 Mar 2016 Turkey F9, Antalya Futures Hard Yannick Jankovits 6–7(9–11), 6–4, 3–6
Win 4–5 Sep 2016 India F4, Chennai Futures Clay Sriram Balaji 3–6, 7–5, 7–6(7–3)
Loss 4–6 Sep 2016 India F6, Coimbatore Futures Hard Sanam Singh 3–6, 6–3, 4–6
Loss 4–7 Oct 2016 Pune, India Challenger Hard Sadio Doumbia 6–4, 4–6, 3–6
Win 5–7 Mar 2017 India F4, Bhilai Futures Hard Sriram Balaji 6–4, 6–2
Loss 5–8 Mar 2017 India F5, Bangalore Futures Hard Sriram Balaji 6–2, 3–6, 4–6
Win 6–8 Mar 2017 India F6, Trivandrum Futures Clay Sriram Balaji 7–5, 6–3
Win 7–8 Jul 2017 China F10, Kunshan Futures Hard Li Zhe 6–3, 6–1
Loss 7–9 Jul 2017 China F11, Shenzhen Futures Hard Zhang Zhizhen 6–2, 5–7, 0–5 ret.
Loss 7–10 Dec 2017 Indonesia F8, Jakarta Futures Hard Lee Duck-hee 3–6, 6–4, 6–7(6–8)
Win 8–10 Mar 2018 India F3, Chandigarh Futures Hard Lý Hoàng Nam 6–3, 6–4
Win 9–10 Apr 2018 Anning, China, P.R. Challenger Clay Mohamed Safwat 5–7, 6–3, 6–1
Loss 9–11 Oct 2018 Ningbo, China, P.R. Challenger Hard Thomas Fabbiano 6–7(4–7), 6–4, 3–6
Win 10–11 Nov 2018 Bangalore, India Challenger Hard Saketh Myneni 6–2, 6–2
Loss 10–12 Nov 2018 Pune, India Challenger Hard Elias Ymer 2–6, 5–7
Loss 10–13 Apr 2019 Anning, China, P.R. Challenger Clay Jay Clarke 4–6, 3–6
Loss 10–14 Nov 2020 Cary, United States Challenger Hard Denis Kudla 6-3, 3-6, 0-6
Loss 10–15 Nov 2020 Orlando, United States Challenger Hard Brandon Nakashima 3-6, 4-6

Doubles: 3 (1–2)
Legend (Doubles)
ATP Challenger Tour (0–2)
ITF Futures Tour (1–0)
Titles by Surface
Hard (0–1)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–1)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Sep 2013 Egypt F25, Sharm El Sheikh Futures Clay Issam Haitham Taweel Filippo Borella
Aleksandr Ivanovich Spirin		 6–3, 6–2
Loss 1–1 May 2017 Samarkand, Uzbekistan Challenger Hard Vishnu Vardhan Laurynas Grigelis
Zdeněk Kolář		 6–7(2–7), 3–6
Loss 1–2 Apr 2018 Taipei, Taiwan Challenger Carpet (i) Saketh Myneni Matthew Ebden
Andrew Whittington		 4–6, 7–5, [6–10]

Singles performance timeline
Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A P Z# PO G F-S SF-B NMS NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (P) postponed; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Current through the 2021 Australian Open.

Tournament2012201320142015201620172018201920202021SRW–LWin %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A A A Q1 1R 1R Q1 0 / 2 0–2 0%
French Open A A A A A A Q3 1R Q2 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Wimbledon A A A A A A Q1 1R NH 0 / 1 0–1 0%
US Open A A A A A Q1 A 1R A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–4 0–1 0–0 0 / 5 0–5 0%
Year-end championships
ATP Finals Did Not Qualify 0 / 0 0–0 –
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A A A A A A 3R NH 0 / 1 2–1 67%
Miami Open A A A A A A A 1R NH 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Monte-Carlo Masters A A A A A A A A NH 0 / 0 0–0 –
Madrid Open A A A A A A A A NH 0 / 0 0–0 –
Italian Open A A A A A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0 –
Canadian Open A A A A A A A A NH 0 / 0 0–0 –
Cincinnati Masters A A A A A Q1 A A A 0 / 0 0–0 –
Shanghai Masters A A A A A A A A NH 0 / 0 0–0 –
Paris Masters A A A A A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0 –
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 2–2 0–0 0–0 0 / 2 2–2 50%
National representation
Summer Olympics A Not Held A Not Held 0 / 0 0–0 –
Davis Cup A A A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0 0%
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 0 0–0 0%
Career statistics
Titles / Finals 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0
Overall Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 2–5 5–14 1–4 0–0 9–24 28%
Year-end ranking 899 484 1400T 484 320 243 110 124 129 $701,151

Wins over top 20 players
Season 2019 Total
Wins 1 1
# Player Rank Event Surface Rd Score PG Rank
2019
1. Nikoloz Basilashvili 18 Indian Wells Masters, USA Hard 2nd 6–4, 6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–4) 97

References
  1. "Prajnesh Gunneswaran | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  2. "Prajnesh fights hard to claim title". 26 March 2017.
  3. "ITF profile". Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  4. "Prajnesh geared up for likely Davis Cup test". 15 March 2017.
  5. "Prajnesh Gunneswaran fights his way into final of Pune Challenger". PTI. 23 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  6. Patwardhan, Deepti (9 April 2017). "Davis Cup: Prajnesh Gunneswaran emerges from the shadows to make a mark against Uzbekistan". Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  7. "Prajnesh wins maiden singles title on Challenger circuit". PTI. 29 April 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  8. Banerjee, Krishnendu (18 November 2018). "Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger winner Prajnesh Gunneswaran targets regular World Tour appearances". Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  9. "Taipei Challenger: Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan set up title clash". PTI. 14 April 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  10. "French Open 2018: Prajnesh Gunneswaran makes main draw but won't take court in Paris". 27 May 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  11. "Asian Games 2018: Prajnesh Gunneswaran settles for bronze in tennis". Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  12. "Prajnesh Gunneswaran knocked out of Maharashtra Open". 31 December 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  13. "Australian Open: Prajnesh Gunneswaran loses in straight sets to American Frances Tiafoe". 14 January 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  14. Judge, Shahid (10 February 2019). "Prajnesh Gunneswaran breaks into top-100 for the first time". Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  15. "Prajnesh Gunneswaran rises to career-high 84 post Indian Wells run". PTI. 18 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  16. "#NextGenATP Clarke Claims Second Challenger Crown In Anning". Retrieved 22 April 2019.
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