Prajnesh loses in 1st round of Australian Open

Speed Post News Network

Patna : India No 1 Prajnesh Gunneswaran, 30,a lucky loser, lost in the first round of Australian Open (AO) 2020 to Tatsuma Ito, 31, Japan, a Wild Card entry, at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on January 21, 2020.

World No 146 Tatsuma Ito beat World No 123 Prajnesh Gunneswaran in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 to enter the 2nd round of AO. Prajnesh though hammered 13 Aces in the match to 6 by Ito. But, Ito won 4 break points to 1 by the Indian. Both the players won 3 games each in a row in the match. Ito won 65 service points to 56 by Ito. Ito’s winning percentage both on his first and second serve ( 70 % & 65 %) was higher than that of Prajnesh (68 % & 38 %).

Prajnesh had lost in the third round of qualifiers but entered the main draw as lucky loser after World No 81 Nicolas Jarry, 24, Chile, withdrew from the tournament.