With that, India's run in the singles category comes to an end. All hopes will now be on the doubles players. However, there were a lot of positives for Gunneswaran in his first ever Grand Slam match and he will hope to grow from strength to strength in the coming few months.
Prajnesh started off the match extremely well and was going toe-to-toe with the world no. 39 in the first set. However, an error at the crucial moment gave the American the first set. Gunneswaran got an early break in the 2nd set but wasn't able to consolidate as he got broken back immediately. There was no turning back for Tiafoe from there as he went on to win the 2nd and 3rd sets with relative ease. He will take on South Africa's Kevin Anderson in the 2nd round.
Tiafoe gets the break! An extremely poor game from Gunneswaran riddled with unforced errors gives the break to the American once again. Surely, its match over now.
Tiafoe seemed to give up on the fianl point which was quite odd. Anyway, it was a great service game by the Indian, with 2 aces in it, to consolidate the break of serve. Its back on serve now.
Well, its not over yet! On his 5th break point, Gunneswaran finally converts to get back on level terms in the 3rd set. Will we see a comeback from the Indian?
Prajnesh's first serve percentage dipped from about 70% to just 43% in the 2nd set. He had a couple of double faults as well. Meanwhile, Tiafoe improved his first serve percentage
And Tiafoe wins the 2nd set to take a 2-0 advantage! It will take a monumental effort for Prajnesh to make a comeback now, given the temperature as well.
After a good hold of serve, Tiafoe breaks the Indian once again to get the advantage in the 2nd set. Gunneswaran is starting to lose his way a bit here.
It was a great set between the two but that one error in the end cost the Indian the set. He served well and hit a few winners throughout the set but wasn't able to close it out. Let's he if he can make a comeback in the 2nd set.
Two holds of serve each by the American and the Indian. They have both started off well and would look to continue the momentum as the match progresses.
India's Prajnesh Gunneswaran came through three rounds of qualifying to qualify for the main draw of the Australian Open for the first time in his career. He will be up against USA's Frances Tiafoe, who is ranked 39 in the world, in the first round of the tournament. The two players have never faced each other before.
The match will take place on Court 15 and will start approximately at 06:45 IST or 12:15 AEDT. It is the second match scheduled on the court.