By Ravishankar Krishnan, 17th November, 2018
Picture Credits – Deepthi Indukuri
Going into the finals of the 2018 ATP Bengaluru Open, Saketh and Prajnesh had faced each other on two occasions, with the head to head standing at 1-1. Both these matches were 3 setters. So you would have been forgiven if you thought we had another epic match in the offing. However, that was hardly the case as Prajnesh breezed past Saketh with a 6-2 6-2 victory to win the 2018 edition of the ATP Bengaluru Open.
The match started with Prajnesh breaking Saketh’s serve in the very first service game of the match. Saketh looked visibly tired from his epic semi-final match, and was struggling to find his range. Saketh once again conceded a break courtesy a double fault and went down 2-5. Prajnesh easily held his serve and sealed the set with an excellent inside out forehand.
The second set started in a fashion similar to the first, as Saketh was broken in the very first game of the second set. Prajnesh continued playing solid tennis to break Saketh once again and lead 4-1. Prajnesh had an opportunity to close out the match on his own serve at 5-2, and he closed it out comfortably, with a service winner to seal the match, a appropriate testament to Prajnesh’s serve on a day he faced no break points. Saketh walked away with a runners-up cheque of USD 12,720 , while Prajnesh collected a cool USD 21,600 for his winning efforts. Further icing on the cake is that Prajnesh will be crowned the new India No. 1 when the ATP rankings are updated on Monday.
“I am happy to have won here. I think I played good tennis through the week and the hard work has paid off,” said an elated Prajnesh who garnered 125 ATP points. “I began on a good note and built on it. I must congratulate Saketh for reaching the finals after an injury prone season”, Prajnesh added.
Prajnesh with the winners trophy. Picture Credits – Deepthi Indukuri
Saketh with the runners-up trophy. Picture Credits – Deepthi Indukuri
