Prajnesh loses ATP Challenger final in US

Cary (US), November 16

Indian Davis Cupper Prajnesh Gunneswaran squandered initial advantage to lose to Denis Kudla of the USA in three sets in the Atlantic Tire Championships final here.

The fourth seeded Indian lost 6-3 3-6 0-6 in the men’s singles summit clash of the ATP Challenger event in one hour 33 minutes on Sunday.

Prajnesh, ranked 146th, started on a bright note, putting up a dominant display to take the opening set of the USD 52,080 hard court tournament. However, the Indian southpaw was unable to keep the momentum going as the second-seeded American came back strongly to win the next two sets.

“It was a pretty good week. After a long time, I was playing in a final. (Before break) I had good results on Challenger tour and played ATP tour,” said Prajnesh.

“Then I had physical issues after which I could not play my best, so could not play like this. It’s been nice, especially after the long break,” he said.

Prajnesh said that his main aim was to get back his match sharpness. “I was just trying to get back to this level in terms of my tennis, my fitness and match sharpness. All came together this week. Also beating a couple of former top-20 players was definitely a confidence booster,” he said.

“Being able to play long matches also gave me the belief of sustaining. Of course, I came short in the final but I have to just review the match.”

The Indian seemed satisfied with his performance in the tournament. “Overall, happy with the week. Could have done a few things differently in final. I am getting closer to where I want to be.”

Prajnesh had got the better of Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci in the quarterfinals before receiving a walkover against Denmark’s Mikael Torpegaard in the semifinal.

He also beat former top-10 American Jack Sock earlier in the tournament.

This was Prajnesh’s seventh Challenger finals. The 31-year-old Indian has won two titles – Anning (China, April 2018) and Bengaluru (November 2018). PTI