'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
India’s Davis Cup hero, Prajnesh Gunneswaran continues his fine run of form as he made it through to the final of the $150, 000 Kunming Open held in Anning, China on Saturday. The 28-year-old, ranked 260th in the world, rebounded after being bagelled in the first set to register a 0-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over the World No. 231 Kamil Majchrzak of Poland in 1 hour 21 minutes.
With this win, Gunneswaran secured a berth in the qualifying rounds of the French Open, to be held in the last week of May.
The Indian will take on World No. 229 Mohamed Safwat of Egypt in the title clash on Sunday in his quest for a maiden ATP Challenger title. The latter stunned the third seed Jordan Thompson 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the other semi-final.
Gunneswaran, who helped India beat China in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I second round tie, has been in great form and accounted for the eighth seed Soonwoo Kwon in the quarter-finals.
Nedunchezhiyan and Lopez-Perez go down in Tallahassee final
At the Tallahassee Challenger final, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Enrique Lopez Perez’s brilliant run came to an end as they lost in the final. The fourth seeds were completely outplayed 3-6, 1-6 by the American combine of Robert Galloway and Denis Kudla in the summit clash that lasted just 55 minutes.
The Indo-Spanish pair had upset the top seeds Luke Bambridge and Jonny O’Mara 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals on Friday.
This was the third Challenger final this year for the Indian southpaw. He had earlier won in Dallas, but tasted defeat in Lille.
Myneni triumphs in Uzbekistan
2014 Asian Games mixed doubles gold medallist Saketh Myneni captured the $25, 000 ITF Futures event in Uzbekistan for his first title of the season. The 30-year-old has been blighted by injuries of late, but found his winning touch to topple the seventh seeded Yaraslav Shyla 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) in the final of this Karshi tournament.
This is the currently 528th ranked Myneni’s 10th title at this level.
