It has been a good jump for the 28-year-old Prajnesh Gunneswaran who reached a career-best ranking of 146 when he made the final of the Challenger last week in China.
The Chennai left-hander has always been focused on his game, be it in the Davis Cup, the Tour or the Asian Games, but not that focused on his rank. Hence, he was not very excited about the jump of 24 places.
“I am quite happy that I made the top-150. But, it was not really a goal. I was already very close. Just happened to get a bit higher,” said Prajnesh over phone from Liuzhou (China).
Top priority
“The first goal was to stay as close to 150 as possible ending the year. I would like to have a shot at playing the ATP 250 events next year. Looks like I can potentially push for more. Just depends on how I finish the year. Not worried abut my rank that much,” said Prajnesh.
Coach M. Balachandran, who is guiding Prajnesh on the Tour, threw more light on Prajnesh’s progress.
“Prajnesh is playing more aggressively rather than being content to defend. “He was outstanding in beating a tough player like Chung Yun-seong of Korea so easily. The idea is to play sharp and not allow the game to become predictable for the opponent,” said Balachandran.
“Prajnesh can easily be top-100. In the semifinal in Ningbo, he outplayed Momir Kecmanovic.
The Serbian’s coach was so impressed that he told me that if Prajnesh played in the same fashion he would be in the top-70 very soon,” said Balachandran.
By working on his strengths, Prajnesh has put a lot of life into his game. “Prajnesh has the advantage of being a left-hander. He has a big serve and forehand as well as a flat backhand. Being a grinder, he can run down balls and it is a combination that is quite annoying for opponents,” said the coach.
“I have improved as a tennis player and I am also getting better mentally. That is what is getting me the results,” observed Prajnesh.
