Prajnesh aims to end season on high

PUNE: Set to become India’s No 1 singles player, Prajnesh Gunneswaran will eye his second consecutive title while Saketh Myneni, getting back to his best, will also look to end the season on a high when the KPIT-MSLTA Challenger begins on Monday.

The Bengaluru Open title triumph will push Prajnesh past both Yuki Bhambri (107) and Ramkumar Ramanathan (124) and closer to the top-100 bracket when new rankings are out on Monday.

Bhambri is out of action due to a nagging knee issue and is set to lose a few places on the ranking ladder. The Pune Challenger will be the first tournament where the Chennai man, who is now ranked 144, will start as India’s best-ranked singles player.

Despite playing in completely different conditions from China, where he spent considerable time before coming to Bengaluru, Prajnesh dropped just one set on his way to the title.

He has been in the form of his life this season and is targeting a strong finish. “I am looking forward to using the momentum and confidence from the tournament in Bengaluru as well as the rest of my season to try and do well,” Prajnesh told PTI.

“I am playing my best tennis. I have had a good season so far and I am looking forward to finish it strong,” the left-hander said. He is drawn to meet Taipei’s Tsun-hua Yang in his opening round.

Myneni seemed to have put his shoulder problem behind, playing solid tennis to get his best result of the season, a runner-up finish, in Bengaluru.

He has played fewer tournaments this season and had to work his way to the Challenger main draws through the qualifying events.