Indian tennis: Prajnesh Gunneswaran’s impressive form takes him into the ATP top-100

Reaping rewards of his consistent performances in the past 12 months, Prajnesh Gunneswaran on Monday broke into men’s singles top-100 for the first time in his career with a jump of six places that took him to 97.

Prajnesh is only third Indian men’s singles player to break into the top-100 barrier in the past decade after Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri, reported PTI.

Indians in ATP Top-100

Ranking	Move	Player
97	Up 6	Prajnesh Gunneswaran
128	Up 5	Ramkumar Ramanathan
156	Down 4	Yuki Bhambri
255	Up 5	Saketh Myneni
271	Up 22	Sasi Kumar Mukund

The gritty left-hander, who had a brilliant 2018 season, reached the semifinals of the ATP Chennai Challenger last week to ensure his entry into the coveted bracket.

If Prajnesh can maintain his rank inside top-100, it will secure him entry into Grand Slam singles main draws. At 29, Pranjesh made his first ever entry into the main draw of a major when he qualified for Australian Open in January.

In recent times, only Yuki managed to make the top-100 grade. The immensely talented Yuki has been unfortunate with injuries that halted his progress. Every time he entered the top-100, it was followed by a long injury break.

He is now placed 156 behind Ramkumar Ramanathan, who rose to 128 with a jump of five places. At number four, is Saketh Myneni (255, +5) and following him is another talent from the South Sasi Kumar Mukund, who jumped 22 places to reach career-best 271.

Mukund too had made the semifinals of the Chennai Challenger.

In the doubles, Rohan Bopanna stayed put at 37 and was followed by his partner Divij Sharan (39, +1), Leander Paes (75, +7), Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (77, +2) and Purav Raja (100, +3).

In the WTA charts, Ankita Raina continues to be country’s top singles player at number 164 after climbing a spot in the ladder and was followed by Karman Kaur Thandi, who dropped a place to 212.