Prajnesh Gunneswaran made a fine start to his Bengaluru Open campaign with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Ivan Nedelko on Tuesday at the centre court of KSLTA Stadium.
However, top-seeded Radu Albot’s campaign ended on the second day of the tournament after he lost 6-2, 2-6, 2-6 in the first-round against world No 483 Youssef Hossam.
The top-ranked Indian in the draw, Prajnesh, eased to a straight-sets win against his Russian opponent in less than an hour. The most conspicuous aspect of Prajnesh’s game was his forehand, which he used to good effect against Nedelko. He gathered most of his 57 points with this shot.
“I’ve been working specifically on my forehands over the last year,” he said after the match.
Nedelko found Prajnesh’s serves troublesome, too. Often while returning, he looked hurried, stretching awkwardly at the last minute to somehow put the ball back into play. But the ball would lob into Prajnesh’s half, giving him enough time to smack a forehand winner.
“It was my first match in these conditions after playing in China [Shenzhen Challenger]. I also got here a bit earlier than my opponent so I felt I had the advantage,” said Prajnesh.
He will take on German qualifier Sebastian Fanselow in the second round.
Earlier, top-seed Albot of Moldova was stunned in three sets by Egypt’s upcoming player, Hossam.
Albot, ranked 101st in the world, pocketed the first set 6-2 in a facile manner. Hossam, 20, was apparently nervous: making quite a few errors and admonishing himself for it. He had 68% first-serve percentage in the first set (compared to Albot’s 47%) but he won the point only on nine of the 17 occasions his serves went in. Albot, meanwhile, won points with ease and clinched the set in about half hour.
“I was a bit nervous and playing tight in the first set. After this, I took a toilet break. I told myself that I should just stick to my plans and enjoy my game out there,” Hossam said after the match.
The little break worked well for the world No 483. His returns and his responses to Albot’s returns were remarkably more confident in the next two sets, compared to the first. Hossam scored 31 of his 34 return points in this phase.
“I think [Albot] continued to play well but when I started putting more balls into the court, consistently, in the second and third sets, he felt the pressure towards the end,” he said.
Hossam, in the second round, will take on India’s Saketh Myneni, who along with Sasi Kumar Mukund reached the second round after straight-set victories. Myneni beat Adil Kalyanpur 6-3, 7-6, while Mukund won 7-6, 6-3 against USA’s Collin Altamirano.
Results
First round: Zizou Bergs (Ger) beat Kevin Krawietz (Ger) 6-1, 6-2; Saketh Myneni beat Adil Kalyanpur 6-3, 7-6 (3); Youssef Hossam (Egy) beat Radu Albot (Mda) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2; 4-Prajnesh Gunneswaran beat Ivan Nedelko (Rus) 6-2, 6-2; Sasi Kumar Mukund beat Colin Altamirano (US) 7-6 (6), 6-3; Blaz Kavcic (Slo) beat 8-Filip Peliwo (Can) 6-1, 6-2; 6-Quentin Halys (Fra) beat Suraj R Prabodh 6-3, 6-1; Brayden Schnur (Can) beat Max Purcell (Aus) 6-4, 7-6; Sebastian Fanselow (Ger) beat Zsombor Piros (Hun) 7-6 (6), 6-4.