Prajnesh Gunneswaran backs out from wild card play-off for Australian Open
Prajnesh Gunneswaran, who recently finished as runner-up in the Pune Challenger, has opted against participating in the wild card play-off for the Australian Open which will be held in Zhuhai, China, from Tuesday. Gunneswaran revealed he had a slight abdominal strain which he wants to recover from.
Indian tennis ace, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, recently achieved a career-best ATP ranking of 104 after some dominant performances on the tennis court in recent weeks. After winning the Bengaluru Open two weeks ago, Prajnesh ended up as runner-up in the Pune Challenger on the weekend following his loss to Sweden’s Elias Ymer in the final.
However, the 29-year old revealed that he will not participate in the wild card
“I have a slight abdomen strain. I have chosen not to push it any further as I want to prepare for 2019. When the cut-off for Australian Open comes next week, my ranking will be around 110. So, I will not get a direct entry into the Australian Open,” Prajnesh told The Hindu.
It has been an eventful year so far for the Chennai-born tennis ace, from winning the live fifth rubber against Yibing Wu of China in the Davis Cup to winning two Challenger titles in Anning and Bengaluru to winning the Asiad bronze. This season has seen the veteran step it up with an attacking style of play, rather than struggling to hit back from the back.
“I am in a good position to push my ranking up. I have the whole of December to train. I think there are a lot of positives from the 2018 season. It is easy for me to have a lot of motivation as I have made a big jump,” said Prajnesh.
Arjun Kadhe and Sidharth Rawat have gained entry into the main draw of the Australian Open
