PUNE: Prajnesh Gunneswaran upkept his splendid run reaching the semifinals in the singles category at the KPIT MSLTA ATP Challenger being played at the Balewadi Tennis Complex here on Thursday.
In the quarterfinal, left handed Gunneswaran who is ranked 110 this week and on the ascent and attempting to get into the top 100, humbled former top 100 player Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-4 in a match which lasted for 1 hour and 25 minutes to make it to the semifinals.
Prajnesh broke in the 8th game of the first set and the 9th game of the second set to wrap the match on the third set point.
In the other quarterfinal matches, third seeded Elias Ymer Of Sweden struggled before getting past qualifier Sebastian Fanselow Of Germany 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in 2 hour and 5 minutes. Bradyen Schnur of Canada who outplayed Arjun Kadhe showed the same form in staving of a close contest against Frederico Ferreira Silva of Portugal winning 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-5 in 2 hours and 26 minutes.
In the doubles quarterfinals, N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth and Ramkumar Ramanathan Of India registered a 6-3 , 6-4 win over Sanjar Fayziev Of Uzbekistan and Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Kazakhstan to keep the Indian hopes alive.
In a repeat match of the finals last week at Bengaluru, Australians Max Purcell and Luke Saville upset top seeds Purav Raja of India and Antonio Sancic Croatia 5-7, 6-3, 13-11. Third seeds and Asian Games doubles silver medallists Hsieh, Cheng-Peng and Yang, Tsung-Hua of Taipei were given a fight by Indian pair of Arjun Kadhe and Saketh Myneni before winning 6-3, 7-6 (11-9).
RESULTS:
Quarterfinals:
4-Prajnesh Gunneswaran (Ind) vs Aleksandr Nedovyesov (Kaz) 6-4, 6-4; 3- Elias Ymer (Swe) bt (Q) Sebastian Fanselow (Ger) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4; Bradyen Schnur (Can) bt Frederico Ferreira Silva (Por) 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-5.
Doubles: Max Purcell (Aus) and Luke Saville (Aus) bt 1-Purav Raja (Ind) and Antonio Sancic (Cro) 5-7, 6-3, 13-11; 3-Hsieh, Cheng-Peng (Tpe) and Yang, Tsung-Hua (Tpe) bt Arjun Kadhe (Ind) and Saketh Myneni (Ind) 6-3, 7-6 (11-9); N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (Ind) and Ramkumar Ramanathan (Ind) bt Sanjar Fayziev (Uzb) and Aleksandr Nedovyesov (Kaz) 6-3, 6-4; Andrej Martin (Svk) and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (Chi) bt (WC) Siddanth Banthia (Ind) and Anvit Bendre (Ind) 6-4, 6-4.
