Australian Open Qualifiers LIVE: Marterer beats Gunneswaran- Prajnesh Gunneswaran has been knocked out of the ongoing Australian Open Qualifiers. He lost to Germany’s Maximilian Marterer, ranked 228th in the world on Wednesday. The match finished 6-2, 6-7 in favour of the German. India’s hope now pins of Yuki Bhambri who will play in Qualifier 2 on Thursday. He faces Portuguese Tomas Machac. Follow Aus Open 2022 updates on InsideSport.IN
Australian Open Qualifiers: Maximilian Marterer beats India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran in straight sets
Down 2-6, 2-4, Prajnesh managed to stretch it to a tie-breaker but squandered many a set point to lose the match.
Prajnesh handed the German two break chances in the fourth game of the match when he made a volley error after setting up the point and followed that up with a wide forehand.
The Indian saved the first chance with a big serve while Marterer’s backhand slice landed just outside the baseline on the second.
An engrossing rally, that put Prajnesh’s backhand to test against the German’s forehand, ensued in the sixth game.
A smart backhand slice by Marterer, after no less than a 20-shot exchange ended the rally as Prajnesh hit the pick-up out, looking for a cross court forehand winner.
Prajnesh’s strokes began to lose power and precision after losing that energy-sapping rally and the German began to dictate terms.
Marterer hit a forehand winner to earn two break chances and converted the second for a 4-2 lead when Prajnesh made a forehand error.
The German came out serving big in the next game to consolidate his lead but Prajnesh seemed to have lost energy as unforced errors flew from his racquet as he surrendered the opening set.
Early in the second set, Prajnesh went from 40-0 to deuce and was down a breakpoint when he sent another shot long.
Marterer could not convert that but created one more chance when he had Parjnesh scurried to the net from the baseline to miss the ball. Already a break-up, Marterer held his own for a 4-1 lead.
A glimmer of hope came when the German allowed Prajnesh an opening by dropping his serve in the seventh game as it was back on serve.
Prajnesh kickstarted the nation’s campaign in the Australian Open Qualifiers on a positive note by winning against a higher-ranked opponent in a high-quality match. Both the players were trying to make deep returns but Prajnesh’s service games were better and that helped him inch ahead in the contest against the Colombian.
The victory would serve as a confidence-booster to Prajnesh who is on a mission to better his ranking and he will look to continue the momentum in the second round.
His opponent in the second round had entered the contest after defeating Croatian Nino Serdarusic 6-3,1-6,6-4 in the first round of the qualifiers.
The 26-year-old German is also on a mission to resurrect his career as in 2018, he has achieved his best ranking of World No.45 in the singles.
2018 was his best year in the circuit as he reached the third round in the Australian Open, fourth round in the French Open, first round in the Wimbledon and first round in the US Open. But an injury made him miss most of the next three years and he now is just slowly making his return back to the circuit.
Australian Open Qualifiers: Maximilian Marterer beats India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran in straight sets
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