Prajnesh Gunneswaran couldn’t replicate his stunning run at Indian Wells as he bowed out in the first round of the Miami Masters on Thursday night. The Indian qualifier was beaten 7-6 (3), 6-4 by Spain’s world No 61 Jaume Munar, ending what has been a breakthrough couple of weeks on North American hard courts.
Playing in his second straight Masters 1000 main draw after the qualifying, the world No 84 broke first but then lost his serve on the first break point he faced. The set then went into a Tiebreak and the Spaniard proved too strong, taking the first set while Prajnesh managed just three points.
The second set saw Munar press advantage, converting two of the six break point while saving just the one he faced.
Overall, the left-hander was weak on his serve, with five double faults to four aces and just 67% points won on first serve.
However, the top-ranked men’s singles player in India will take heart from his performance in the US, after getting the biggest win of his career and rising to his best ranking.
Earlier the Indian, who had reached the third round of the Indian Wells tournament, had qualified for the main draw with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Jay Clarke in the rain-delayed qualifiers.