Australian Open Qualifying: Prajnesh through to second round

Prajnesh Gunneswaran beat Canada's Brayden Schnur 6-4 4-6 6-2 to move into the second round of the Australian Open Qualifiers.

Prajnesh Gunneswaran celebrates after winning a point against Brayden Schnur.

India's highest world-ranked player Prajnesh Gunneswaran advanced through to the second round of the 2021 Australian Open Qualifiers after battling past Canada's Brayden Schnur on Monday.

Prajnesh and Schnur fought for two and a half hours before clinching the match 6-4 4-6 6-2. Ranked 128th in world, Prajnesh is still a fair distance away from reaching the main draw. In the previous edition, the 31-year-old entered the main draw as lucky loser in the Qualifiers but he crashed out to Japanese wild card Tatsuma Ito in the first round.

Earlier today, India's Kamran Kaur Thandi bowed out in the first round of qualification. Playing her first match after almost a year, Kamran lost to Gerogia's Mariam Bolkvadze 6-7 (4), 6-7(4).

So far, Sumit Nagal remains India's only entrant to the main draw after receiving a singles main draw wild card for the tournament that is scheduled to begin on February 8.