The Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger will witness an all-Indian final between Saketh Myneni and Prajnesh Gunneswaran, who notched contrasting wins in their respective semi-finals on Friday evening.
While Myneni needed over two hours, five match points and occasional cheering from the crowd to beat Aleksandr Nedovyesov in three sets, Prajnesh seemed like he was in a practice session as he eased past Brayden Schnur 6-4, 6-1.
The second match of the evening witnessed Prajnesh’s high-octane winners and clinical tennis but the sparse crowd at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) stadium was more involved with the first because of its drama.
Myneni’s start wasn’t great. His occasional run-ins to the net – something he did throughout the match – and the nonchalant volleys from there were eye-pleasing. But the baseline rallies were being won by Nedovyesov who played more powerful strokes.
In the fifth game, the Indian conceded a breakpoint after his backhand volley from near the net went wide. Another error – a backhand that hit the net – cost him a service game. Nedovyesov held the rest of his serves to clinch the first set 6-4.
“It was an up and down match,” he said after the match. “I started a bit slowly, especially being a break down and he started playing pretty well.”
Myneni, along with many in the crowd, looked tensed after Nedovyesov broke him in the third game of the second set with a spectacular forehand cross-court winner.
Two games later, the match oscillated in the Indian’s direction. Nedovyesov made four uncharacteristic unforced errors to gift the sixth game and a decisive break to the Indian.
Buoyed by the crowd, he looked more confident in the following games and clinched the set by breaking his Kazakh opponent in the 10th game.
He then raced to a 5-0 lead in the decider but lost – mostly because of his own mistakes – the next four games in a row, but broke Nedovyesov for the third time in the set to clinch the match.
“It wasn’t nerves,” he said. “I was trying to play aggressive and that’s how i played in the beginning. The way which helped me I tried to do the same thing but then he started playing more solid. Couple of double faults at that time didn’t help my cause.”
In the final, however, Myneni can’t afford such errors against his younger compatriot, Prajnesh, who’s guaranteed to be the Indian No 1 after Friday’s win.
Prajnesh, apart from his second round match, hasn’t lost serve throughout the tournament. On Friday, he faced no break points against Canada’s Schnur and his serving was top-notch and he adjusted well in his first match under lights.
Prajnesh, after the match, said that Saketh’s a tricky opponent because of his “unconventional style of play” and is expecting a tough match.