Pune Challenger 2018: Prajnesh Gunneswaran extends winning streak; Ramkumar Ramanathan exits

The top Indian players had contrasting fortunes as the first round action wrapped up at the $50,000+H Pune Challenger on Tuesday. While last week’s Bengaluru Open winner Prajnesh Gunneswaran extended his winning streak further by entering the second round at Pune, second seed Ramkumar Ramanathan bowed out.

The 29-year-old Gunneswaran celebrated his rise to the India No. 1 position with a strong 6-4, 6-4 win over World No. 267 Tsung-Hua Yang of Chinese Taipei. Up next for the World No. 110 is the German qualifier Lucas Gerch, who pummelled Collin Altamirano 6-3, 6-1.

The 24-year-old Ramanathan could not play in Bengaluru last week as an ATP commitment kept him away. His return to the circuit was not a happy one after the World No. 130 suffered a 3-6, 2-6 one-sided loss at the hands of his 370th ranked compatriot, Arjun Kadhe.

Also exiting the tournament on Tuesday were the 2018 Bengaluru Open runner-up Saketh Myneni and the 2017 Bengaluru Open champion Sumit Nagal.

Myneni is still on a comeback trail from a shoulder injury. The runner-up finish last week was his best performance of the year. However, he failed to replicate it in Pune and went down 4-6, 6-7(1) to World No. 355 Sasi Kumar Mukund.

The 21-year-old Nagal had been struggling all season until coming back to the venue of his greatest career triumph. A few days after making it to the quarter-finals in Bengaluru, Nagal succumbed to a 5-7, 2-6 defeat to the top seed and World No. 102 Radu Albot.

There was another big upset in singles as the fifth seed Marc Polmans was sent packing 2-6, 4-6 by the 186th ranked Aleksandr Nedovyesov.

In doubles, top seeds Purav Raja and Antonio Sancic were put to a stern test but they managed to secure a narrow 4-6, 7-6(6), 10-8 win over Daniel Masur and Tristan-Samuel Weissborn. The Indo-Croatian combine lost the final at the Bengaluru Open last week.