MUMBAI: A screaming forehand was followed by a roar of celebration as Prajnesh Gunneswaran recorded his first-ever win in a main draw at tour event at home. The Indian, who has had a few tough months, defeated Germany’s Yannick Maden 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) in the opening round of the Tata Open Maharashtra at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune on Tuesday.
It was a first winning result for the Indian players in the last two days. While Sumit Nagal and Ramkumar Ramanathan had lost on Monday, local lad and wildcard entrant Ajrun Kadhe was outclassed 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday. Sasikumar Mukund will play his first round against Japan’s Taro Daniel on Wednesday.
Gunneswaran had arrived in Pune on the back of a disappointing outing at the Australian Open, where he lost in the first round as a lucky loser. In the past few months, he has had to overcome injuries and the demise of his father. Though the 30-year-old Indian wasn’t at the top of his game, he stuck to his aggressive baseline game to tilt the game in his favour. Gunneswaran hit 28 winners, and 34 unforced errors, while his opponent, had only 14 winners to 38 unforced errors.
Serve and forehand are his biggest weapons, and Gunneswaran brought them to the party early on. He didn’t drop a single point in his first two service games and got the momentum. Also 30, and ranked 131, only nine rungs below Gunneswaran, Maden is more of a clay-courter who did a good job at redirecting the pace that the Indian generated.
Though Gunneswaran dropped only two points in his first four service games, his serving prowess deserted him when he attempted to serve to first set out at 5-3. He allowed Maden to level the set and take it into the tie-breaker. In the ‘breaker though, even as Gunneswaran held his end steady and kept going for his shots, Maden’s forehand wing broke down. Though he lead 3-0 in the tie-break, he missed four forehands and lost seven of the next eight points.
Maden was pushed on all his service games, but he did enough to take the second set also in the tie-break. But the Indian took charge again, edging 3-2 ahead after the longest rally of the match, which lasted for more than 20 shots, ended with Maden putting a tired backhand slice into the net. The Indian brought up match point with an ace for 6-5 and converted it immediately, ending a point on Maden’s serve with a striking forehand winner. Paes-Ebden wins Playing possibly his last ATP tournament in India, Leander Paes extended his stay in Pune. He and Australia’s Matthew Ebden ousted defending champions Divij Sharan and Artem Sitak 6-2, 7-6 (5) in the Round 1.