Prajnesh Gunneswaran beats Janko Tipsarevic in Turkey

Prajnesh Gunneswaran announced his form and fitness on grass as he tamed the former world No.8 Janko Tipsarevic 6-0, 7-6(6) on the grass courts of the € 507,490 ATP tennis tournament in Antalya, Turkey, on Monday.

The 94th ranked Prajnesh, the last direct entrant in the draw, served eight aces, to six by the 286th ranked Tipsarevic, and converted three breakpoints while saving two in the match.

The Serb was returning to the circuit with a protected ranking, after having lost the first round in French Open singles and quarterfinals of doubles.

Prajnesh will next play Lorenzo Sonego of Italy, who knocked out the eighth seed Joao Sousa of Portugal.
Meanwhile, Sumit Nagal jumped 27 places to be ranked 224, close to his career best ran of 213, after reaching the semifinals of the Challenger in Slovakia. Sumit had beaten the top seed Martin Klizan along the way, before losing to the eventual champion Norbert Gombos.

The results:

€ 507,490 ATP, Antalya, Turkey
Singles (first round): Prajnesh Gunneswaran bt Janko Tipsarevic (Srb) 6-0, 7-6(6).
Qualifying singles (first round): Roberto Ortega-Olmedo (ESP) bt Sasi Kumar Mukund 6-2, 6-1.

€ 69,280 Challenger, Bratislava, Slovakia
Singles (semifinals): Norbert Gombos (SVK) bt Sumit Nagal 6-1, 4-6, 6-2; Quarterfinals: Sumit Nagal bt Andrej Martin (SVK) 6-4, 6-2; Pre-quarterfinals: Sumit Nagal bt Martin Klizan (SVK) 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(3); Second round: Sumit Nagal bt Gerard Granollers (ESP) 6-3, 6-1.

(Courtesy: The Hindu)