# Prajnesh Gunneswaran

Prajnesh Gunneswaran (born 12 November 1989) is an Indian former professional tennis player. He has won 2 ATP Challenger and 8 ITF titles in singles and 1 ITF title in doubles. He represents India at the Davis Cup. At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, he won the bronze medal in the men's singles event.
In November 2024, Gunneswaran announced his retirement from professional tennis.

## Personal life

Prajnesh Gunneswaran is the son of Mr. S G Prabhakharan and Mrs. Usha. He married Sudarshana Pai in Ernakulam, Kerala in 2019.

## Career
### 2010–2017: Early career

Gunneswaran mainly participated in ITF and ATP Challenger events in his early years. While he won eight ITF Futures singles titles, he found limited success on the Challenger tour.
In October 2016, he reached his first ATP Challenger singles final at Pune Challenger. He lost the title match to Frenchman Sadio Doumbia. In May 2017, he reached his first ATP Challenger doubles final at 2017 Samarkand Challenger. Partnering with compatriot Vishnu Vardhan, the pair lost the final to team of Laurynas Grigelis and Zdeněk Kolář.
Gunneswaran made his Davis Cup debut for India against Uzbekistan in April 2017.

### 2018: 2 ATP Challenger titles, Asian games Bronze Medal, Indian No. 1

2018 proved to be breakthrough year for Gunneswaran. He reached four ATP Challenger singles finals, winning two of them. He won his first ATP Challenger singles title at the Kunming Open by defeating Mohamed Safwat in the final. In an all-Indian final, he defeated Saketh Myneni at Bengaluru Open to lift his second Challenger singles trophy. He finished as runner-up at the Ningbo Challenger and Pune Challenger. In April he also reached his second ATP Challenger doubles final at Santaizi ATP Challenger in Taipei, where he partnered with Saketh Myneni.
At French Open, Gunneswaran lost in the final qualifying round. Although he was chosen as lucky loser after Nick Kyrgios withdrew from the competition, Gunneswaran could not participate in the main draw event as he had already left Paris before Kyrgios announced his withdrawal, thus failing to debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam event.
In August, he won the bronze medal in the men's singles tennis event at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. He became the sixth Indian male athlete to win a medal in tennis at the Asian Games.
Gunneswaran started the season as World No. 243 in singles ranking. With solid performance on the Challenger tour he finished the season on a career-high ranking of No. 104 and became the highest ranked Indian singles player.

### 2019: Grand Slam main draw & top 100 debuts

Gunneswaran started the season by entering the Maharashtra Open, where he received a wildcard into the main draw. He lost in the first round to Michael Mmoh in straight sets.
At the Australian Open, he won the qualifying competition and debuted in the main draw of a Grand Slam event. He lost in the first round in straight sets to Frances Tiafoe.
On 11 February 2019, he reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 97, debuting in the top 100 singles rankings.
Gunneswaran came through the qualifying of the 2019 BNP Paribas Open and defeated Frenchman Benoit Paire in straight sets to enter the second round. He won his second round match against the 17th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili in three sets to make the third round of an ATP 1000 Tournament for the first time in his career. Gunneswaran's run at the Indian Wells Masters came to an end following a straight set defeat to Ivo Karlovic in the third round. This was Gunneswaran's maiden appearance at an ATP Masters event. Next, he qualified for the Miami Open, a back-to-back main draw appearance at a Masters event. He lost in the opening round to Jaume Munar.
In April, Gunneswaran reached his season's first ATP Challenger singles final at the Anning Challenger. He was the defending champion and lost to British player Jay Clarke in the final. As a result, he rose to a career-high singles ranking of No. 75. In July his ranking automatically enabled him entry to the main draw at Wimbledon, where he lost in the first round to Milos Raonic.
He lost to Daniil Medvedev at the US Open in the first round.

## Challenger and Futures finals
### Singles: 27 (11–16)

* Legend (singles)
* ATP Challenger Tour (2–7)
* ITF Futures Tour (9–9)
* Titles by surface
* Hard (7–14)
* Clay (4–2)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Jun 2013 | India F6, Chennai | Futures | Hard | Vijayant Malik | 7–6$^{(7–5)}$, 6–3 |
| Win | 2–0 | Jul 2013 | Denmark F2, Aarhus | Futures | Clay | Colin van Beem | 6–3, 4–6, 6–0 |
| Loss | 2–1 | Sep 2013 | Egypt F26, Sharm El Sheikh | Futures | Clay | Enrique López Pérez | 0–6, 0–6 |
| Loss | 2–2 | Sep 2015 | India F12, Chennai | Futures | Hard | Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan | 6–7$^{(8–10)}$, 4–6 |
| Loss | 2–3 | Nov 2015 | India F16, Gwalior | Futures | Hard | Ramkumar Ramanathan | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 3–3 | Dec 2015 | India F18, Jassowal | Futures | Hard | Ronit Singh Bisht | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 3–4 | Dec 2015 | India F19, Mumbai | Futures | Hard | Ramkumar Ramanathan | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 3–5 | Mar 2016 | Turkey F9, Antalya | Futures | Hard | Yannick Jankovits | 6–7$^{(9–11)}$, 6–4, 3–6 |
| Win | 4–5 | Sep 2016 | India F4, Chennai | Futures | Clay | Sriram Balaji | 3–6, 7–5, 7–6$^{(7–3)}$ |
| Loss | 4–6 | Sep 2016 | India F6, Coimbatore | Futures | Hard | Sanam Singh | 3–6, 6–3, 4–6 |
| Loss | 4–7 | Oct 2016 | Pune, India | Challenger | Hard | Sadio Doumbia | 6–4, 4–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 5–7 | Mar 2017 | India F4, Bhilai | Futures | Hard | Sriram Balaji | 6–4, 6–2 |
| Loss | 5–8 | Mar 2017 | India F5, Bangalore | Futures | Hard | Sriram Balaji | 6–2, 3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 6–8 | Mar 2017 | India F6, Trivandrum | Futures | Clay | Sriram Balaji | 7–5, 6–3 |
| Win | 7–8 | Jul 2017 | China F10, Kunshan | Futures | Hard | Li Zhe | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Loss | 7–9 | Jul 2017 | China F11, Shenzhen | Futures | Hard | Zhang Zhizhen | 6–2, 5–7, 0–5 ret. |
| Loss | 7–10 | Dec 2017 | Indonesia F8, Jakarta | Futures | Hard | Lee Duck-hee | 3–6, 6–4, 6–7$^{(6–8)}$ |
| Win | 8–10 | Mar 2018 | India F3, Chandigarh | Futures | Hard | Lý Hoàng Nam | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 9–10 | Apr 2018 | Anning, China, P.R. | Challenger | Clay | Mohamed Safwat | 5–7, 6–3, 6–1 |
| Loss | 9–11 | Oct 2018 | Ningbo, China, P.R. | Challenger | Hard | Thomas Fabbiano | 6–7$^{(4–7)}$, 6–4, 3–6 |
| Win | 10–11 | Nov 2018 | Bangalore, India | Challenger | Hard | Saketh Myneni | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Loss | 10–12 | Nov 2018 | Pune, India | Challenger | Hard | Elias Ymer | 2–6, 5–7 |
| Loss | 10–13 | Apr 2019 | Anning, China, P.R. | Challenger | Clay | Jay Clarke | 4–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 10–14 | Nov 2020 | Cary, United States | Challenger | Hard | Denis Kudla | 6–3, 3–6, 0–6 |
| Loss | 10–15 | Nov 2020 | Orlando, United States | Challenger | Hard | Brandon Nakashima | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 10–16 | Mar 2022 | Monterrey, Mexico | Challenger | Hard | Fernando Verdasco | 6–4, 3–6, 6–7$^{(3–7)}$ |
| Win | 11–16 | Jan 2023 | M25, Al Zahra, Kuwait | ITF | Hard | Khumoyun Sultanov | 6–2, 7–6$^{(7–5)}$ |

### Doubles: 3 (1–2)

* Legend (doubles)
* ATP Challenger Tour (0–2)
* ITF Futures Tour (1–0)
* Titles by surface
* Hard (0–1)
* Clay (1–0)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–1)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Sep 2013 | Egypt F25, Sharm El Sheikh | Futures | Clay | Issam Haitham Taweel | Filippo Borella Aleksandr Ivanovich Spirin | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Loss | 1–1 | May 2017 | Samarkand, Uzbekistan | Challenger | Hard | Vishnu Vardhan | Laurynas Grigelis Zdeněk Kolář | 6–7$^{(2–7)}$, 3–6 |
| Loss | 1–2 | Apr 2018 | Taipei, Taiwan | Challenger | Carpet (i) | Saketh Myneni | Matthew Ebden Andrew Whittington | 4–6, 7–5, [6–10] |

## Singles performance timeline

Key :
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
Current through the 2022 Maharashtra Open.
| Tournament | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | SR | W–L | Win % |
| Grand Slam tournaments |||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | 1R | 1R | Q1 | Q2 | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| French Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | Q3 | 1R | Q2 | Q1 | | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | 1R | NH | Q1 | | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| US Open | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | A | 1R | A | Q2 | | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 5 | 0–5 | 0% |
| Year-end championships |||||||||||||||
| ATP Finals | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| ATP World Tour Masters 1000 |||||||||||||||
| Indian Wells Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 3R | NH | A | | 0 / 1 | 2–1 | 67% |
| Miami Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | NH | A | | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Monte-Carlo Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Madrid Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Italian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Canadian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Cincinnati Masters | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | A | A | A | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Shanghai Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | NH | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Paris Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 2 | 2–2 | 50% |
| National representation |||||||||||||||
| Summer Olympics | A | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | A | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Davis Cup | A | A | A | A | A | Z1 | PO | QR | QR | A | | 0 / 0 | 2–5 | 29% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–21 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0 / 0 | 3–6 | 33% |
| Career statistics |||||||||||||||
| Titles / Finals | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 |
| Overall win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–5 | 5–14 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 10–27 | 10–27 | 28% |
| Year-end ranking | 899 | 484 | 1400T | 484 | 320 | 243 | 110 | 124 | 129 | 219 | 347 | $701,151 | $701,151 | $701,151 |

## Wins over top 20 players

| Season | 2019 | Total |
| Wins | 1 | 1 |
| # | Player | Rank | Event | Surface | Rd | Score | PG Rank |
| 2019 ||||||||
| 1. | Nikoloz Basilashvili | 18 | Indian Wells Masters, USA | Hard | 2nd | 6–4, 6–7$^{(6–8)}$, 7–6$^{(7–4)}$ | 97 |