Prajnesh Gunneswaran reaches second round of French Open qualifiers

Prajnesh Gunneswaran moved to the second round of French Open qualifiers with a straight-sets win over Cem Ilkel. The Indian won 6-3, 6-1.

Despite losing the first three games in the opening set, Prajnesh bounced back to break Ilkel thrice and take the opener 6-3. He carried the momentum into the second set, taking a quick 5-0 lead before sealing the set 6-1.

He will face Aleksandar Vukic or Carlos Alcaraz in the next round.

Read: Five players out of French Open qualifying due to COVID-19  

Meanwhile, India's top-ranked tennis star Sumit Nagal exited the French open qualifiers with a 7-6(4), 7-5 defeat to Dustin Brown.

Ramkumar Ramanathan, the last Indian in the fray in the men's singles category, also made a first-round exit as he lost 7-5, 6-2 to Frenchman Tristan Lamasine.

In the women’s singles qualifiers, Ankita Raina, ranked 176, will open her campaign against Serbian player Jovana Jovic, ranked 234.