Prajnesh Gunneswaran (born 12 November 1989) is an Indian former professional tennis player. He won 2 ATP Challenger and 8 ITF titles in singles and 1 ITF title in doubles. He represented India at the Davis Cup. At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, he won the bronze medal in the men's singles event.
Personal life
Prajnesh Gunneswaran is the son of Mr. S G Prabhakharan and Mrs. Usha. He married Sudarshana Pai in Ernakulam, Kerala in 2019.
Career
2010–2017: Early career
Gunneswaran mainly participated in ITF and ATP Challenger events in his early years. While he won eight 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: Two ATP Challenger titles, Asian games Bronze Medal, Indian No. 1
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 No. 104 and became the highest ranked Indian singles player.
2019: Grand Slam main draw & top 100 debuts
Gunneswaran started the season by entering the Maharashtra Open, where he received a wildcard 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 No. 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.15 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.16 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 No. 75.17 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 the 2019 US Open in the first round.
2024: Retirement
In November 2024, Gunneswaran announced his retirement from professional tennis.18
Challenger and Futures finals
Singles: 27 (11–16)
|
|
| 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 |
| Loss | 10–16 | Mar 2022 | Monterrey, Mexico | Challenger | Hard | Fernando Verdasco | 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(3–7) |
| Win | 11–16 | Jan 2023 | M25, Al Zahra, Kuwait | ITF | Hard | Khumoyun Sultanov | 6–2, 7–6(7–5) |
Doubles: 3 (1–2)
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| 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# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
Current through the 2022 Maharashtra Open.
| Tournament | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | SR | W–L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | 1R | 1R | Q1 | Q2 | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| French Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | Q3 | 1R | Q2 | Q1 | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% | |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | 1R | NH | Q1 | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% | |
| US Open | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | A | 1R | A | Q2 | 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 | 0–0 | 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 | A | 0 / 1 | 2–1 | 67% | |
| Miami Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | NH | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% | |
| Monte-Carlo Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |
| Madrid Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |
| Italian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |
| Canadian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |
| Cincinnati Masters | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | A | 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 | 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 | 0–0 | 0 / 2 | 2–2 | 50% |
| National representation | ||||||||||||||
| Summer Olympics | A | Not Held | A | Not Held | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | ||||||
| Davis Cup | A | A | A | A | A | Z1 | PO | QR | QR | A | 0 / 0 | 2–5 | 29% | |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–21 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0 / 0 | 3–6 | 33% |
| 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 | 0 / 0 | ||
| Overall win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–5 | 5–14 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 10–27 | 28% | |
| Year-end ranking | 899 | 484 | 1400T | 484 | 320 | 243 | 110 | 124 | 129 | 219 | 347 | $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 |
External links
- Prajnesh Gunneswaran at the Association of Tennis Professionals
- Prajnesh Gunneswaran at the International Tennis Federation
- Prajnesh Gunneswaran at the Davis Cup
- Prajnesh Gunneswaran at ESPN.com
References
"Prajnesh Gunneswaran | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Archived from the original on 6 May 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2019. http://www.atptour.com/en/players/prajnesh-gunneswaran/ga94/overview ↩
"Prajnesh fights hard to claim title". The Hindu. 26 March 2017. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2017. http://www.thehindu.com/sport/other-sports/prajnesh-fights-hard-to-claim-title/article17665293.ece#! ↩
"ITF profile". Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017. http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/players/player/profile.aspx?playerid=100055837 ↩
"Prajnesh geared up for likely Davis Cup test". 15 March 2017. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2017. http://www.sportstarlive.com/tennis/indian-tennis/prajnesh-geared-up-for-davis-cup-test/article17467791.ece ↩
"Prajnesh Gunneswaran fights his way into final of Pune Challenger". PTI. 23 November 2018. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2018. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/tennis/top-stories/prajnesh-gunneswaran-fights-his-way-into-final-of-pune-challenger/articleshow/66776338.cms ↩
Patwardhan, Deepti (9 April 2017). "Davis Cup: Prajnesh Gunneswaran emerges from the shadows to make a mark against Uzbekistan". Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018. https://www.firstpost.com/sports/davis-cup-prajnesh-gunneswaran-emerges-from-the-shadows-to-make-a-mark-against-uzbekistan-3375530.html ↩
"Prajnesh wins maiden singles title on Challenger circuit". PTI. 29 April 2018. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2018. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/tennis/top-stories/prajnesh-wins-maiden-singles-title-on-challenger-circuit/articleshow/63960605.cms ↩
Banerjee, Krishnendu (18 November 2018). "Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger winner Prajnesh Gunneswaran targets regular World Tour appearances". Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018. https://www.newindianexpress.com/sport/other/2018/nov/18/bengaluru-open-atp-challenger-winner-prajnesh-gunneswaran-targets-regular-world-tour-appearances-1899726.html ↩
"Taipei Challenger: Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan set up title clash". PTI. 14 April 2018. Archived from the original on 10 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018. https://www.firstpost.com/sports/taipei-challenger-yuki-bhambri-ramkumar-ramanathan-set-up-title-clash-4432091.html ↩
"French Open 2018: Prajnesh Gunneswaran makes main draw but won't take court in Paris". 27 May 2018. Archived from the original on 15 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019. https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/tennis/french-open-2018-prajnesh-gunneswaran-lucky-loser-main-draw-5193378/ ↩
"Asian Games 2018: Prajnesh Gunneswaran settles for bronze in tennis". 24 August 2018. Archived from the original on 24 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018. https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/asian-games-2018/story/asian-games-2018-prajnesh-gunneswaran-tennis-bronze-1322660-2018-08-24 ↩
"Prajnesh Gunneswaran knocked out of Maharashtra Open". 31 December 2018. Archived from the original on 17 January 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2019. https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/tennis/prajnesh-gunneswaran-maharashtra-open-pune-5517655/ ↩
"Australian Open: Prajnesh Gunneswaran loses in straight sets to American Frances Tiafoe". 14 January 2019. Archived from the original on 17 January 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2019. https://www.timesnownews.com/sports/tennis/article/australian-open-prajnesh-gunneswaran-loses-in-straight-sets-to-american-frances-tiafoe/347115 ↩
Judge, Shahid (10 February 2019). "Prajnesh Gunneswaran breaks into top-100 for the first time". Archived from the original on 11 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019. https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/tennis/prajnesh-gunneswaran-breaks-into-top-100-for-the-first-time-5576783/ ↩
"Getting to Know Prajnesh Gunneswaran, India's No. 1 Tennis Player | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. https://www.atptour.com/en/news/getting-to-know-prajnesh-gunneswaran ↩
"Prajnesh Gunneswaran rises to career-high No. 84 post Indian Wells run". PTI. 18 March 2019. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/tennis/top-stories/prajnesh-gunneswaran-rises-to-career-high-84-post-indian-wells-run-injured-yuki-bhambri-out-of-top-200/articleshow/68465507.cms ↩
"#NextGenATP Clarke Claims Second Challenger Crown In Anning". Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2019. https://www.atptour.com/en/news/clarke-2019-challenger-spotlight-anning ↩
Hedge, Prajwal (16 November 2024). "Prajnesh Gunneswaran, once ranked No. 75, calls it a day". The Times of India. Retrieved 25 November 2024. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/tennis/top-stories/prajnesh-gunneswaran-once-ranked-no-75-calls-it-a-day/articleshow/115349584.cms ↩