The 29-year-old Prajnesh Gunneswaran has saved his best tennis for the latter stage of a career, competing in four Challenger finals in 2018 and winning two titles, finishing the year in the best possible way at home in India to come on the verge of the top-100.
A severe knee injury threatened to end his career much earlier than he expected but he managed to overcome that problem and play his best tennis, hoping to enter the elite group as soon as possible and maybe attack the position in the top-50, confident he still has five or six seasons in the legs.
Prajnesh will lead the Indian Davis Cup squad against Italy in Kolkata on grass next week, hoping to bring his best tennis and oust the guest squad together with Ramkumar Ramanathan, Saketh Myneni, Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan.
The captain Mahesh Bhupathi counts on Gunneswaran and Ramanathan for the singles rubbers and they should overcome the Italians who will play without Fabio Fognini, especially on the fastest surface. Last year in Stuttgart, Prajnesh qualified for the main draw and he defeated world no.
23 Denis Shapovalov in three sets, eager to deliver the similar performance against the Italians and send his country into Davis Cup finals in November in Madrid. Im good on grass. I beat world no. 23 Denis Shapovalov recently.
I should be able to do well here, . I did well in four, five tournament at the end of last year. I consistently did well in four Challengers. Those were my best results. I think we will have a slight advantage.
We just need to fight hard and close the gap. Here we will have strong crowd support and we all will give our best to do well for the country making full use of the home conditions. The team atmosphere is just perfect and we have come here much in advance to get used to the surface.
Its reflecting on my game. I know Ramanathan for a long time, both from the same city and both in top-150. My target is to be in the top-50 but my current goal is to get inside the top-100. If I get there I will revisit my goals.
I want to continue at least five to six more years. Knees are in great shape at the moment. I really dont want to discuss the tactics, the kind of adjustments we will make. We will see on the day of the tie. Perhaps, I will stand lower to the ground and bend low.
Im very happy that I made my Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open. Im looking forward to do better when I placed in the main draw next time
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