Prajnesh bows out in second round
Pune, Feb. 6: Fourth-seeded Kwan Soon-woo stormed into the singles quarter-finals at the third of Tata Open Maharashtra with a hard-fought 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) win against India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran at the Balewadi Stadium here on Thursday.
Despite losing the first set, the India No. 1 put a brilliant show in attempt to comeback which saw the second set going into decider.
However, World No. 88 Soon-woo held his nerves in the tie-breaker to score crucial points and wrapped up the match. Prajnesh denied his opponent match points on a couple of occasions. With Prajnesh’s loss in the round of 16, India’s challenge came to an end in the singles.
Earlier Sumit Nagal, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Sasikumar Mukund and Arjun Kadhe lost their respective matches in the opening round.
In other singles last-16 match, Australia’s James Duckworth held his nerves during thrilling three-set 67 (4-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 over Taro Daniel. Despite losing the first set, the sixth seeded Duckworth made timely comeback to win the hardfought second set. However, the Australian had continued the momentum to win the decider easily to complete victory.
In doubles category, pair of Romain Arneodo and
Andre Begemann caused a major upset in the tournament as they knocked out top-seed pair of Robin Haase and Robert Lindstedt with a thrashing 6-3, 6-3 win to enter the semi-finals.
However, third seeded Jonathan Erlich and Andrei Vasilevski also made their way into the last four. Erlich-Vasilevski had fought hard before registering 5-7, 6-1, 10-8 win against Italian pair of Stefano Travaglia and Paolo Lorenzi.
PAES TO PLAY IN BANGALORE OPEN Indian tennis legend Leander Paes on Thursday confirmed his participation in the Bangalore Open ATP Challenger, beginning here on February 10.
Paes, who is into his farewell season, will be seen in action for one last time on home soil at the $162,000 event at the KSLTA.
Paes is playing selected tournaments during the year as a part of a farewell tour he is calling “One Last Roar”.
“Playing at home in front of my fellow Indians has always been a source of immense pleasure and motivation for me. Bangalore has always had a crowd that understands tennis and the vibe of the stadium and the energy of the city really invigorate me,” said Paes. — Agencies