Prajnesh Gunneswaran celebrated his 31st birthday with a memorable 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-6(5) victory over the former World No. 8 Jack Sock of the US in the pre-quarterfinals of the $52,080 Challenger tennis tournament here on Thursday.
In a three-hour marathon, Prajnesh came up with a strong display in the gripping climax.
In the quarterfinals, Prajnesh was scheduled to play qualifier Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil.
The results:
$52,080 Challenger, Cary, US: Pre-quarterfinals: Prajnesh Gunneswaran bt Jack Sock (US) 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-6(5).
$15,000 ITF men, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt: Doubles (semifinals): Arnaud Bovy & Gauthier Onclin (Bel) bt Alastair Gray (GBr) & Siddhant Banthia 6-4, 6-4.
$15,000 ITF women: Quarterfinals: Elina Avanesyan (Rus) bt Rutuja Bhosale 7-5, 2-6, 6-1. Doubles (semifinals): Valentina Ryser & Lulu Sun (Sui) bt Michaela Bayerlova (Cze) & Sathwika Sama 6-3, 6-1.
Quarterfinals: Gray & Banthia bt Vladyslav Orlov (Ukr) & Arjun Kadhe 6-4, 7-5.
$25,000 ITF women, Orlando, US: Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Sarah Hamner & Ashlyn Krueger (US) bt Gabriela Ce (Bra) & Ankita Rana 6-7(3), 6-1, [11-9] .
