Prajnesh Gunneswaran sets sights on ATP Top 100

And this Chennai lad may soon get there, given how much Prajnesh Gunneswaran has gained from stints at the Spain Tennis Academy in Barcelona under the tutelage of Jonathan Stubbs.

The 18-year-old made tennis fans happy by making it to the semifinals of the $15,000 Futures event in New Delhi last week, the only Indian to do so.

Bigger names like Sunil Kumar Sipaeya had fallen by the wayside. And Gunneswaran himself accounted for Ashutosh Singh in the opening round.

It was sweet revenge -- Singh had prevailed in the final of the DSCL National Tennis Championship last year. Giant-killing Gunneswaran had been the surprise finalist then but consoled himself with a title in the Under-18 event.

This time around, Gunneswaran overpowered Singh in three tight sets and went on to beat second seed Yuichi Sugita of Japan in the quarterfinal. He did come unstuck against Pakistan's Aqeel Khan in the semis but by then his performance had brought him in the limelight.

"The mental aspect is very important for me as I have enough standard to play at a much higher standard than my ranking suggests," Gunneswaran told the Indian Tennis Blog before flying back to Spain.

"But some things let me down like my tactical indiscipline and impatience."

They are flaws Gunneswaran is working on in his quest to crack the ATP Top 100, a goal he thinks he can achieve "within the next couple of years".

The 18-year-old is currently ranked 1303 on the ATP list but will move closer to the Top 1000 when the rankings are updated on Monday.

Gunneswaran has had an amazing run over the past two months - a Futures quarterfinal in Spain (after three qualifying round wins), a win at the Catalan Federation Men's Open (see pic and video) and the Futures semis in New Delhi.

Dreams of a hometown win at the Chennai Futures in early September were shattered with a straight-set opening round loss to second seed Alexey Kedryuk of Kazakhstan, but Gunneswaran was happy he gave it his best shot.

"It was only one break each set and I had chances to break too. Kedryuk is much more experienced than me and he showed that by winning the big points," he said.

"I was happy to bounce back from that and do well in Delhi."

Up next for Gunneswaran are three Spain Futures events in successive weeks, starting with the one in Barcelona on October 6.

VIDEO: Watch Gunneswaran in action

$15,000 INDIA F7 FUTURES, New Delhi
(September 8 - 14, 2008)
HARD COURT
Men's Singles Semifinal
Prajnesh Gunneswaran lost to (7)Aqeel Khan(PAK) 3-6,2-6
Quarterfinal
beat (2)Yuichi Sugita(JPN) 7-6(4),6-4
Round 2
beat (WC)Ronak Manuja 6-4,6-2
Round 1
beat (5)Ashutosh Singh 7-6(5),4-6,7-6(7)

Ashutosh wins title, no such luck for Sunitha Rao

Newly crowned DSCL Open National Champion Ashutosh Singh and runner-up Prajnesh Gunneswaran have been granted wildcards for the main draw of Challenger tournaments to be held in Delhi from next month.

Second seed Singh had beaten the 17-year-old Gunneswaran 6-4, 7-6(4) in the Nationals final in New Delhi on Friday.

Gunneswaran didn't go home empty-handed though. The giant-killer beat Vijayant Malik 6-3, 6-2 in the boys singles final.

In the women's event, title favourite Isha Lakhani swept past second seed Rushmi Chakravarthi 6-4, 6-1 to win her third straight Nationals.

DSCL OPEN NATIONALS - FINALS

MEN

(2) Ashutosh Singh beat Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-4,7-6(4)

WOMEN

(1) Isha Lakhani beat (2) Rushmi Chakravarthi 6-3,6-1

UNDER 18 BOYS

(2) Prajnesh Gunneswaran beat (1) Vijayant Malik 6-3,6-2

Meanwhile, there was bad news in store for fans of Sunitha Rao. The Florida-based player was ousted in the second round of the USTA Tennis Classic at Troy, Alabama by her 296-ranked nemesis Alexa Glatch.

The 18-year-old American carved out a hardfought 7-6(4),7-6(3) victory over seventh-seeded Rao. It was Glatch's third straight win over Rao, having also beaten her in 2004 and in the final of the $25,000 Southlake, Texas tournament in July this year.

In the doubles quarterfinals, Rao and her Australian partner Christina Wheeler(AUS) lost 6-4,6-7(4),8-10 to the American pair of Angela Haynes and Mashona Washington.

Yuki Bhambri hits dead end at DSCL Nationals

Teenager Yuki Bhambri's giant killing run at the DSCL Open National Tennis Championship came to an end in the semifinals on Thursday - he hit a dead end named Ashutosh Singh.

Singh, seeded second in New Delhi, ousted the prodigy in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. Bhambri could show none of the promise he displayed while dispatching fourth seed Vivek Shokeen and sixth seed Tushar Liberhan in previous rounds.

The focus now shifts to another teenager Prajnesh Gunneswaran, who at 17 is two years elder to Yuki. The unseeded Gunneswaran prevailed in a hard-fought 6-3,4-6,6-4 victory over eighth seed Navdeep Singh in the other semifinal.

Gunneswaran kept himself in contention for a double crown by also reaching the boys' singles final, while Kelsey Sundaram was crowned the girls singles champion.

In the women's singles, the top two seeds will fight it out in the final - romping home in straight sets in the semifinals. Yuki's sibling Sanaa Bhambri was crushed by Isha Lakhani while Rushmi Chakravarthi accounted for Sonal Phadke.

Lakhani and Chakravarthi also teamed up to win the doubles title, beating - surprise, surprise - Bhambri and Phadke.

DSCL OPEN NATIONALS - SEMIFINALS

MEN

Prajnesh Gunneswaran beat (8) Navdeep Singh 6-3, 4-6,6-4
(2) Ashutosh Singh beat Yuki Bhambri 6-2,6-3

WOMEN

(1) Isha Lakhani beat (3) Sanaa Bhambri 6-2,6-2
(2) Rushmi Chakravarthi beat (4) Sonal Phadke 6-4,6-1

UNDER 18 BOYS

(1) Vijayant Malik beat (6) Ronak Manuja 6-0,6-3
(2) Prajnesh Gunneswaran beat (3) Abhijeet Tiwari 6-3,6-2

UNDER 18 GIRLS FINAL

(9) Kelsey Sundaram beat (8) Tanvi Shah 6-4,3-6,6-3

MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL

(3) Vinod Sridhar/Vishnu Vardhan beat (1) Vivek Shokeen/Ashutosh Singh 6-4,3-6,11-9

WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL

(1) Isha Lakhani/Rushmi Chakravarthi beat (3) Sanaa Bhambri/Sonal Phadke 7-5,6-1

Yuki Bhambri impresses at DSCL Open Nationals

Yuki Bhambri, all of 15, is creating waves at the DSCL Open National Tennis Championship at New Delhi. The prodigy, considered by many to be India's next tennis great, upset fourth seed Vivek Shokeen in the men's singles quarterfinals.

Shokeen, ranked 757 on the ATP list, could find no answer to the youngster's wily play. Bhambri had also accounted for sixth seed Tushar Liberhan the previous day.

In other matches, Navdeep Singh upset top seed Aditya Madkekar in straight sets but the result was not unexpected considering Singh's form. Navdeep reached the main draw of the Kingfisher Airlines Open at Mumbai in September, shot up 86 places on the ATP list and is now ranked 731.

Meanwhile, 17-year-old Prajnesh Gunneswaran survives in both the men's and boy's singles.

There were no surprises in store in the women's singles with the top four seeds progressing safely to the semifinals and number four Sonal Phadke finally accounting for lucky loser Rashmi Teltumbde.

DSCL OPEN NATIONALS - QUARTERFINALS

MEN

(8) Navdeep Singh beat (1) Aditya Madkekar 6-4,6-0
Prajnesh Gunneswaran beat (7) Vinod Sridhar 7-5,6-1
Yuki Bhambri beat (4) Vivek Shokeen 7-5,6-3
(2) Ashutosh Singh w/o (5) Vijay Kannan 5-3 retired

WOMEN

(1) Isha Lakhani beat Aishvarya Srivastava 6-4,6-3
(2) Rushmi Chakravarthi beat (8) Parul Goswami 6-0,7-5
(3) Sanaa Bhambri beat (6) Asha Nandakumar 6-0,6-2
(4) Sonal Phadke beat (LL) Rashmi Teltumbde 5-7,6-3,6-2

UNDER 18 BOYS

(1) Vijayant Malik beat Shantanu Rajput 6-0,6-1
(6) Ronak Manuja beat (4) Sitaram Sudanwa 4-6,6-1,6-4
(3) Abhijeet Tiwari beat (7) Christopher Marquis 6-3,7-6(2)
(2) Prajnesh Gunneswaran w/o (5) B Vikram Reddy 6-0,3-0 retired

UNDER 18 GIRLS

(6) Aishvarya Srivastava beat (1) Kyra Shroff 6-7(6),6-1,7-5
(9) Kelsey Sundaram beat Sharmada Balu 6-2,6-3
Rashmi Teltumbde beat (4) Vishaka Sheoran 7-5,6-2
(8) Tanvi Shah beat (2) Sweta Solanki 6-4,7-5