Prajnesh Gunneswaran failed to replicate his stunning Indian Wells performance at the Miami Masters as he bowed out from the Masters 1000 competition’s first round.
Although the Indian showed great fight, he was defeated 7-6 (3), 6-4 by Spain’s World number 61 Jaume Munar. This brought an end to what has been a breakthrough couple of weeks on the hard courts of North America.
Also Read | Prajnesh Gunneswaran Rises To Career-High 84 After Indian Wells
The Match
Playing in his 2nd straight Masters 1000 main draw after the qualification, he lost his serve on the first break point he faced. The set then entered a Tiebreak with the Spaniard proving to be too strong. He took the first set with Prajnesh managing only three points.
The second set witnessed Munar press advantage, converting 2 of the six breakpoints before saving only the one he faced.
On the whole, the left-hander was weak with his serving. He had 5 double faults as compared to four aces with just 67% points won on the first serve.
Nonetheless, India’s top-ranked men’s singles player will take pride from his performance in the US, getting the biggest win of his career before rising to his best career ranking.
Tough loss for Prajnesh Gunneswaran. Could have won the natch had he converted his opportunities. Nonetheless great 3 weeks for Prajnesh. Hopefully he won't go back to challenger circuit from here. Need to continue playing in 250, 500 events to assure a direct entry in GS & 1000s
— Sayan (@Tweets_by_Sayan) March 22, 2019
Prajnesh’s Qualification
Earlier in the competition, the Indian, who had reached the third round of the Indian Wells tournament, had qualified for the main draw with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Jay Clarke in the rain-delayed qualifiers.
Prajnesh started on a very strong note, beating Clarke in the match’s first game. He then went on to save two break points in the other games to seal the first set.
The commencement of the second game was not much different as well, with the 29-year-old Indian again breaking his 20-year-old rival in the first game. Although Clarke did manage to save a couple of break points, he was unable to prevent Prajnesh from sealing the set and the qualification in his favour.
This will be a second straight Masters main draw appearance for Prajnesh. The feat comes only a week after he reached the third round at Indian Wells.
Prajnesh Gunneswaran’s campaign at #MiamiOpen comes to an end with a 6-7 4-6 defeat in the first round at the hands of Spaniard Jaume Munar. Nevertheless good three weeks in the states for the Indian No.1 as he won his 1st ATP Masters main draw match #IndianTennis pic.twitter.com/AYVKpTu0jO
— Rahul Bhutani (@BhutaniRahul) March 22, 2019
