Indian Wells Masters | Prajnesh Gunneswaran beats Benoit Paire on ATP Masters 1000 debut
On his debut ATP Masters 1000 tie, Prajnesh Gunneswaran has defeated Benoit Paire of France in straight sets 7-6 (5), 6-4 at the ongoing Indian Wells Masters on Friday. The top-ranked Indian tennis player will now meet World No. 18 Nikoloz Basilashvili in the second round of the competition.
It took an hour and 30 minutes for the 97-ranked tennis player from India to win his debut tie of ATP Masters 1000 at Indian Wells. This is only the second main draw victory on the ATP tour for the Indian. Gunneswaran won 72% of his points on the first serve while he managed to save eight break points that he had to face. He also converted four out of six break chances on the opponent’s serve.
Earlier in this event, Gunneswaran managed to get an entry into the main draw by going past Italy’s Salvatore Caruso 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in the tough qualifying match. World No. 18 Basilashvili from Georgia will take on Gunneswaran in the second round of the main draw at the Indian Wells.
The 29-year-old Indian is having a great time in international tennis as he has got into the top 100 recently. In 2018, he had won his first ATP Challenge title in April and made his maiden appearance in the ATP main draw in June and also managed to defeat Denis Shapovalov. Earlier this year, Gunneswaran also made his Grand Slam debut by qualifying for the main draw of the Australian Open.
