Davis Cupper Prajnesh Gunneswaran outplayed the top seed Li Zhe of China 6-3, 6-1 in the final of the USD 25,000 ITF men’s Futures tennis tournament in China on Sunday.
It was the seventh Futures singles title for Prajnesh, and second abroad after the one he had won in Denmark in 2013. It was the third singles title of the year for the 27-year-old Chennai lad. Prajnesh, seeded second and ranked a career-best 256, converted four of 11 breakpoints that he forced in the match, and saved all the three breakpoints that he faced, to cruise to victory in an hour and 23 minutes.
Another Davis Cupper, Sumit Nagal, however, had to retire midway through the second set in the singles semifinals of the ITF Futures in Colombo, after losing the first set. There was some consolation for the Indian camp as third seeds Chandril Sood and Lakshit Sood clinched the doubles title after three games in the final as their opponents retired.
It was the eighth doubles title for the Sood twins, and the second of the season.
In the ITF women’s event in Egypt, former Asian junior champion Pranjala Yadlapalli cruised into the final with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Ekaterina Yashina of Russia. In the final, the 18-year-old Pranjala was scheduled to play another unseeded player Giada Clerici of Italy.
Kanika Vaidya won the doubles title with Ekaterina Yashina, crushing an Aussie-Irish pair for the loss of two games in the final.
The results
USD 25,000 ITF men, Kunshan, China
Singles (final): Prajnesh Gunneswaran bt Li Zhe (Chn) 6-3, 6-1.
USD 15,000 ITF men, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Singles (semifinals): Carlos Boluda-Purkiss (Esp) bt Sumit Nagal 6-3, 3-0 (retired).
Doubles (final): Chandril Sood & Lakshit Sood bt Nino Portales (Fra) &
Alexander Zhurbin (Rus) 2-1 (retired).
USD 15,000 ITF women, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
Singles (semifinals): Pranjala Yadlapalli bt Ekaterina Yashina (Rus) 6-4, 6-4.
Doubles (final): Ekaterina Yashina (Rus) & Kanika Vaidya bt Ella
Husrefovic (Aus) & Jennifer Timotin (Irl) 6-2, 6-0.
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