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Tag: Prajnesh Gunneswaran

  • US Open finalist Ruud beats Prajnesh to present Norway 1-0 lead over India

    World No. 2 Casper Ruud expectedly was too good for India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran, giving Norway a 1-0 lead within the World Group I First Round Davis Cup tie right here on Friday.

    Ruud, who completed runner-up on the US Open after taking place to Carlos Alcaraz on Monday, turned up for nationwide responsibility 4 days later and did the job for his group. He beat the 335-ranked Indian 6-1, 6-4 in a single hour and two minutes.

    After being completely outplayed within the first set, Prajnesh lifted his sport within the second to make Ruud’s activity more durable. While the Indian did not get a break level, his extra completed opponent transformed three out of the 5 alternatives he acquired.

    The opening singles was a foregone conclusion however India stay very a lot within the tie with the opposite Norway gamers nowhere close to Ruud’s league.

    The second singles between 325-ranked Viktor Durasovic and India primary Ramkumar Ramnathan shall be performed afterward Friday.

    Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni shall be taking up Ruud and Durasovic within the essential doubles rubber on Saturday.

  • ‘Anything can happen in sport’ – Yuki Bhambri upbeat as India takes on Casper Ruud’s Norway on the Davis Cup

    Following a thumping 4-0 residence win over Denmark on the Davis Cup again in March, India’s subsequent project is towards Norway, led by US Open finalist and World No. 2 Casper Ruud.

    Yuki Bhambri, member of India’s contingent in Norway, tells The Indian Express that though the staff has not devised any plans for Ruud, they’re wanting ahead to the chance to tackle one of many world’s greatest.

    “It’s hard to develop a strategy for the World No. 2,” he mentioned. “We’re going to try to put some pressure on him, he has just played the US Open final so he may not be 100%. It’s a day of tennis and both will have to perform. Anything can happen in sport.”

    Ruud is the spotlight of the occasion, however past him, India will fancy their probabilities within the World Group Stage attract Lillehammer, Norway. India No. 2 Prajnesh Gunneswaran will go head-to-head with Ruud within the opening match of the encounter, following which India No. 1 Ramkumar Ramanathan will fancy his probabilities towards Viktor Durasovic on Friday.

    On Saturday, India will look in direction of the doubles staff of Bhambri and Saketh Myneni in what may very well be the decisive matches. Against Denmark on the Gymkhana Club in Delhi, the doubles partnership of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan got here in clutch, and with Bopanna out with harm, Bhambri and Myneni can be hoping to have the same affect this week.

    “The team is going to miss Rohan’s experience,” Bhambri mentioned. “Apart from being a great doubles player, he has been a great servant of Indian tennis. His experience counts for a lot so we are definitely going to miss that. But hopefully, Saketh and I can get the job done here.”

    Despite an absence of tour-level expertise, Bhambri and Myneni have shaped a formidable partnership this yr on the Challenger circuit. The duo have gained six titles this yr, together with the Mallorca Challenger final month. Their most up-to-date outing was a semifinal end in Cassis, France. Bhambri believes the extent of their present Group Stage 1 draw towards Norway just isn’t a step as much as the Challengers.

    “At this stage which India is playing on currently, the level is fairly similar to the events we have won,” he mentioned. “We are fairly confident we should be able to get that point for India. That will be the mindset of anyone who steps on court. We all want to make the best of the opportunity and take Indian tennis forward.”

    India vs Norway, Davis Cup Group Stage, kicks off at 9.30 pm IST, dwell on Eurosport.

  • Sumit Nagal returns to Indian Davis Cup crew, Divij Sharan dropped

    Sumit Nagal on Thursday made a comeback to the Indian Davis Cup crew for the away World Group I tie in opposition to Norway whereas doubles specialist Divij Sharan was dropped after falling behind within the pecking order.

    Expectedly, nation’s primary singles participant Ramkumar Ramanathan (ranked 196), Prajnesh Gunneswaran (295), Sasikumar Mukund (431), Yuki Bhambri (571), doubles exponent Rohan Bopanna (21) have been named within the crew because the Nandan Bal-led choice committee picked 4 specialist singles gamers.

    Arjun Kadhe (519) and Sidharth Rawat (566) are ranked above Yuki but when the Delhi participant is to make use of his Protected Ranking, he can be in top-100. And going by the category of Yuki, it solely is smart to have a participant of his calibre on the aspect.

    Of the six gamers, one can be named a reserve by captain Rohit Rajpal after assessing circumstances in Norway and it is going to be a five-member unit that can compete on September 16 and 17.

    Most seemingly, Sasikumar, who’s but to play a Davis Cup tie, shall be a reserve participant.

    Sumit Nagal, who underwent a hip surgical procedure in November 2021, started competing on the circuit from April this 12 months. In eight tournaments this season, Nagal has gained 4 matches.

    The 24-year-old participant from Haryana final performed a Davis Cup tie in opposition to Croatia in March 2021 and missed the next matches in opposition to Finland (September 2021) and Denmark (March 2022).

    “The courts are expected to be slow in Norway, so Sumit comes into play there. Slow courts suit the game style of Sumit. If courts are faster we have the option of Yuki and Ramkumar. So we have to have four singles players in the side,” Nandan Bal instructed PTI.

    “Both Ramkumar and Yuki are playing doubles also and doing well. So there was no place for Divij Sharan in the side this time. He comes in only as doubles specialist and these guys can play both singles and doubles,” he mentioned.

    Divij has misplaced his place in top-100 doubles rankings. He is now ranked 196 and there are seven Indian gamers ranked above him aside from the top-ranked Rohan Bopanna.

    It would be the first time that India and Norway will compete in opposition to one another in Davis Cup.

    India had blanked Denmark 4-0 in New Delhi within the World Group Play-offs in March this 12 months.

  • Davis Cup: Finland’s Ruusuvuori, Virtanen give hosts 2-0 lead towards India

    There was no urgency in his stroll to the baseline. No signal of fear both when he was dealing with a set level – as a substitute there was a wry smile on Otto Virtanen’s face. His motion, even throughout lengthy rallies, was languid. He wore a baseball cap backwards so as to add to the nonchalant manner. He was the underdog, with nothing to lose.
    Ranked 419 on the planet, up towards World No 165 Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Virtanen was enjoying the opening match for Finland within the World Group 1 Davis Cup tie towards the Indians. Serving at 5-6, 30-40 – set level for Prajnesh – within the second set, Virtanen, with the identical air of nonchalance, walked to the baseline and hammered down his ninth ace of the match. A couple of minutes later, he closed out the match for a shock 6-3, 7-6(1) win.
    A few hours later, Emil Ruusuvuori made it 2-0 for the hosts with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Ramkumar Ramanathan.

    ????2???0??????@EmilRuusuvuori closes out Ramanathan 6-4 7-5 to make it two-for-two for the hosts towards India!#DavisCup pic.twitter.com/DjRbRAiJ2d
    — Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 17, 2021
    In their first-ever tie towards the Finland within the Davis Cup, India was handed a troublesome problem on the Espoo Metro Areena, round 30 km from Helsinki. The hosts have World No. 74 Ruusuvuori, the highest-ranked singles participant within the tie. So, the guests have been concentrating on 20-year-old Virtanen, enjoying in solely his second Davis Cup tie, for 2 out of the three factors they should advance.
    It additionally helped the Indian trigger that their No. 1 would play Virtanen first within the hope {that a} win may put scoreboard stress on 22-year-old Ruusuvuori within the second match.
    But the aggressive teen, the son of former Finnish Davis Cup participant Pasi Virtanen, got here up with an early shock. He broke Prajnesh’s serve within the sixth recreation of the match and by no means let go of the lead thereon. It was the one break of the match, however Virtanen did have one other seven alternatives to interrupt serve once more. Five of these have been saved when Prajnesh was serving at 4-4 within the second set.
    Rising to the event
    On his personal serve, Virtanen confronted simply two break factors –saving each, together with the large flat ace large when dealing with set level.
    “It was a combination of him coming up with the goods in the big moments, and me not doing enough,” says Prajnesh after the match.
    “It was a pretty good match from Otto. He served pretty well today, didn’t give away any free points. Played pretty well when he had the lead.”
    India did have a slight benefit from the draw with Prajnesh enjoying first. But they have been all the time operating the chance of the left-hander not being at his greatest. The 31-year-old from Chennai has struggled with wrist accidents all through this season, and it has affected his type as effectively.
    “I’m not playing my sharpest, considering the fact that I’ve had injuries and not played too much. But every player goes through that at some point. That’s not an excuse for not being able to find a way today,” he says.

    Photos from the observe session right now morning that includes Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni
    Photos courtesy @siyer30 sir / @TennisFi pic.twitter.com/SAZWb4kNC8
    — Indian Tennis Daily (@IndTennisDaily) September 17, 2021
    “I didn’t do what I needed to today. Few loose games here and there. I feel like I didn’t convert on some of the close situations.”
    Virtanen although, held his personal moderately effectively. He had a 73 p.c first serve share (55/75) – together with 10 aces – in comparison with Prajnesh’s 58 p.c (40/69). His service remained unbroken all through the match, together with the tie-breaker he went on to win 7-1 – the place Prajnesh dedicated 4 unforced errors.
    In solely his third Davis Cup match, the teen from Hyvinkaa has picked up the most important win in his profession over a participant as soon as ranked as excessive as 75 on the planet.
    Ruusuvuori makes it 2-0
    Ruusuvuori in the meantime held off Ramkumar within the first set that noticed each gamers wrestle to search out their vary. They traded breaks early, earlier than Ruusuvuori managed to get the decisive break within the tenth recreation of the set to go 6-4.
    They began to carry their serves higher within the second set, however Ramkumar, serving second, was once more damaged on the most important stage within the match. Ruusuvuori dispatched a backhand-down-the-line return winner to earn the one break within the second set to assert it 7-5 and provides Finland a 2-0 lead.
    On Saturday, the veteran duo of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan will begin proceedings in the one doubles match of the tie towards Henri Kontinen and Harri Heliovaara.

  • Davis Cup: Prajnesh loses to lower-ranked Virtanen, India down 0-1 in tie

    Prajnesh Gunneswaran but once more misplaced to a lower-ranked participant within the Davis Cup to depart India path 0-1 within the World Group I tie towards Finland, right here on Friday.
    Up towards Otto Virtanen, ranked as little as 419 within the ATP rating chart, the one hundred and sixty fifth ranked Prajnesh misplaced 3-6 6-7(1) in only one hour 25 minutes.
    Ramkumar Ramanathan now must beat Finland’s primary participant, Enil Ruusuvuori, who’s ranked 74 on this planet to maintain India within the hunt.
    It was an excellent draw for India with Prajnesh taking part in first towards a lower-ranked participant however Virtanen stroked fluently and walked away with a simple win.
    Prajnesh saved two breaks early however dropped serve within the sixth recreation to fall behind within the opening set. The left-hander received an opportunity to interrupt again when Virtanen double-faulted at deuce level within the subsequent recreation however Prajnesh couldn’t capitalise on the prospect.
    Virtanen served out the set with none fuss within the ninth recreation.
    With house assist, Virtanen stored the Indian beneath the pump. Prajnesh was once more at risk of dropping serve early within the second set however he managed to carry the third recreation after a few deuce factors.
    Prajnesh stored preventing until 4-all however was down 0-40 after serving a double fault within the ninth recreation. However, he saved 5 breakpoints and finally held the sport with a well-calculated drop shot.
    The Indian served the eleventh recreation set love and now wanted to interrupt his rival, who was taking part in effortlessly.
    He received that little likelihood when Virtanen hit forehand on web at deuce level however the Finnish pulled off an ace on the break level. Eventually it went to a tie-breaker, wherein Prajnesh fell behind 0-3 after which 1-5.
    An angled serve that Prajnesh couldn’t return gave the house participant a match level, which he transformed with a simple winner.

  • Yuki Bhambri beats Prajnesh Gunneswaran, subsequent up is Ramkumar Ramanathan in Dubai Qualifiers

    Image Source : PTI Yuki Bhambri
    Comeback-man Yuki Bhambri proved he’s again to his greatest with a convincing win over India primary Prajnesh Gunneswaran within the Qualifiers of the Dubai Duty Free Championships, right here on Saturday.
    Yuki, who’s competing on a Protected Ranking (PR) knocked out his seventh seed compatriot 6-1 6-4 within the opening spherical of the USD 2,048,855 laborious court docket event.
    Yuki has not misplaced to Prajnesh in three conferences. He had crushed the left-hander twice in 2017 — Bangalore and Karshi.

    Yuki not too long ago returned to aggressive tennis after greater than two years of injury-forced break when he competed on the Singapore Open, the place he misplaced to Matthew Ebden.
    The 28-year-old is now up towards one other compatriot Ramkumar Ramanathan, who knocked out sixth seed Russian Evgeny Donskoy 6-4-6-4.
    In his 5 matches towards Ramkumar, Yuki has emerged winner on 4 events.
    The all-Indian second spherical signifies that no less than one participant from nation will compete in the principle draw of the celebrated ATP 500 occasion.