Prajnesh Gunneswaran shocks Benoit Paire at Indian Wells

Prajnesh Gunneswaran

Indian qualifier Prajnesh Gunneswaran knocked out World No. 69 Benoit Paire for one of the biggest wins of his career and progressed to the second round of the Indian Wells ATP Masters event here.

Playing his maiden singles main draw at this level, the Indian left-hander shocked the fancied French player 7-6 (5), 6-4 in one hour and 29 minutes. Before this, Prajnesh had taken out then World No. 23 Denis Shapovalov for the biggest win of his career at the Stuttgart ATP 250 event last year. The World No. 97 Indian next faces World No. 18 Nikoloz Basilashvili from Georgia.

Since Prajnesh is not defending too many points ahead and has already added 41 to his kitty, he is likely to jump to 80th, a new career-high. "It's definitely one of the biggest wins of my career.

It has come at a good time, I am close to making the cut for the Wimbledon (main draw) and I am going to go up in the rankings," said Prajnesh. Prajnesh said more than the tennis, it was about handling the windy conditions which played a role in the outcome.

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