Prajnesh Gunneswaran qualifies for his maiden ATP World Tour tennis event

Prajnesh Gunneswaran qualified for the singles main draw of an ATP World event for the first time in his career when he defeated Christian Harrison in the final round of the Mercedes Cup Qualifiers in Stuttgart, Germany on Monday.

The left-handed Indian, who touched his career-best rank of 169, got the better of his American opponent 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the second round of the grass court event.

Prajnesh, who could have played at the French Open as ‘lucky loser’ but missed out since he had confirmed participation in an event in Italy, is satisfied at his progress.

“I am happy to make it to my first ATP main draw. Especially since it’s my first tournament on grass. I look forward to continuing the good run I have had in the last few months and keep pushing my limits,” Prajnesh told PTI from Stuttgart.

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The 28-year-old Chennai lad said the transition from clay to grass was smooth for him.

“Surprisingly yes. But I also worked on some grass court specific stuff in the last few weeks so I came here ready. My serve helps me a lot on grass so that is something that can always keep me in the match. But yes. I have made the transition quickly,” he said.

He will face Canadian World No. 23 Denis Shapovalov in the opening round.