Indian No. 1 Prajnesh Gunneswaran had a smooth beginning to his campaign at the ATP 500 Citi Open as he scored a 62 62 win over Luke Saville of Australia. He will now face Go Soeda in the final qualification round to make it to the main draw of the ATP Citi Open for the first time in his career.
Ashish Malhotra caught up with Prajnesh to get his views on the match
Thoughts on the match today?
Yeah, it was a pretty good match overall. Luke played well today but I think his primary event is doubles so I definitely had the edge since he’s not been competing in singles much or at all. There were a couple of close service games that I held which made the scoreline look easier than the match itself. But yes, off the baseline I was able to dictate a good amount and I’m happy with my overall level today. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s match.
When did you arrive in DC? Did you get much time to prepare, or were you just hitting the courts for the first time today? And I understand you’ve had a bit of a recent wrist issue – how is that holding up?
Friday at noon. I hit just once. Yeah, I did have [an issue]. It’s pretty good now. So I’m close to 100%
Do you have any particular goals that you’re setting yourself for this US hardcourt season? Or are you just taking it match by match? What’s your outlook for this hardcourt season?
I’m just taking it one step at a time since I haven’t had a great run so far and need some matches
Good luck to him in Washington!