Prajnesh Gunneswaran warms up with a win for new season

Prajnesh Gunneswaran beat wild card Jason Kubler of Australia 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of the $162,480 Challenger tennis tournament in Bendigo, Australia, on Monday.

Prajnesh will next challenge the Taro Daniel of Japan who had a bye in the first round.

The other Indian in the tournament, Ramkumar Ramanathan was unable to capitalise on a strong start and was beaten 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 by Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland.

In the ATP Tour event in Doha, third seeds Rohan Bopanna and Wesley Koolhof cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over the Italians Marco Cecchinato and Lorenzo Sonego.

In the quarterfinals, the indo-Dutch pair will challenge Frances Tiafoe and Stan Wawrinka.


The results:

$1,465,260 ATP, Doha, Qatar
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Wesley Koolhof (NED) & Rohan Bopanna bt Marco Cecchinato & Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) 6-3, 6-2.

$162,480 Challenger, Bendigo, Australia
Singles (first round): Emkl Ruusuvuori (FIN) bt Ramkumar Ramanathan 3-6, 6-2, 6-3; Prajnesh Gunneswaran bt Jason Kubler (AUS) 7-5, 6-3.

(Courtesy: The Hindu)