CHENNAI: The first three months of 2020 has not been positive for Prajnesh Gunneswaran. He did make it into the main draw of the Australian Open but that was the lone highlight as he lost more matches than he won. Defeat to Croatia’s Borna Gojo in the first rubber of the World Group playoffs compounded the disappointment. In a sense, it’s been a prolonged leen stretch since October. A nagging left wrist injury in October meant he was forced to give a walk-over to Wu Tung-lin in the third round of the Liuzhou Challenger. Since then, he has won four main draw matches in seven meets. However, there was a bigger blow in this time. He lost his father, SG Prabhakaran, who passed away after a period of illness last November.
“That was the biggest blow of my life,” Gunneswaran, who is quarantined at home, tells this daily. The former World No 75, who was explaining how he came within a tournament or two of quitting for good, is still uncomfortable talking about what his father meant to him. It is only understandable because without Prabhakaran’s guidance and motivation, the 30-year-old would have stopped playing tennis. “It (my father’s death) impacted me a lot. But I cannot really do anything about it... it’s a part of my life.”
Here’s a little history lesson. Managing chronic tendinits in both his knees, the Chennai lad had had enough. He was just 23 but because of the state of his body, he was ready to delete his dreams and look towards an alternate career. That’s when Prabhakaran intervened. His father asked him to give his body one final chance to keep his dream going. So he willed his body for one more time, a last chance saloon. “It just clicked there,” Gunneswaran remembers. “If I had aggravated my injury after coming back for one last time... I would have definitely stopped then and there.” Since giving himself ‘my last chance’, he has gone on to achieve a fair few milestones. Understandably, “cracking the ATP 250s, winning that Anning Challenger (150 ranking points) in China as well as that do-or-die Davis Cup rubber against China in 2018” figure highly in his list.
When he is asked to look forward to what 2020 could yet bring, he is just interested in further polishing his big weapons; the serve and the forehand. “I have been making steady progress and closing the gap. But I would like to pay special focus to the things that I believe are my biggest weapons.” For the time being though, he is one among many elite athletes around the world. “I cannot go out anywhere as I am under quarantine. If only I had access to gym equipment or a tennis court. So I have to make do with what I have, just doing push-ups and some body weight training.” When the Tour returns, the World No 132 hopes he can channel his never-say-die spirit for another crack at the Top 100 and beyond. Knowing him, one wouldn’t be advised to bet against him.