Prajnesh Gunneswaran

Índia

Tênis

Ano de nascimento1989

Redes sociais

Biografia

Prajnesh Gunneswaran is Indian tennis' comeback man.

For Indian fans who followed Prajnesh Gunneswaran during his junior years, there was almost a sense of inevitability when the Tamil Nadu player won the men's singles bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games or featured in the main draws of all four Grand Slams a year later.

However, the road ahead was far from easy.

The Chennai-born Prajnesh took to tennis at the age of eight, inspired by his maternal grandfather and his rise to fame was rapid. He won national titles in every age group from under-12 to under-18 and was touted as Indian tennis’ rising star.

In fact, in 2007, Prajnesh Gunneswaran won the Under-18 championships and finished runners-up in the men’s nationals final on the same day.

Parjnesh’s performances at the junior levels attracted a lot of attention from top US schools and despite an injury to his dominant left arm in 2009, he was offered scholarships by top universities, including Harvard.

The Indian tennis player opted to join the University of Tennessee due to its higher National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ranking. Weekend college tennis, however, failed to entice the Indian and he dropped out of college to turn pro in 2010.

The transition, though, was far from smooth. Plagued by recurring injuries, especially to his knees and shoulder, Prajnesh could play just six tournaments from 2010-12.

Before he knew it, Prajnesh was 25, having played very little tennis between 2009 to 2015.

Considering the time between 19 to 25 is often considered an athlete’s golden years, a disheartened Prajnesh was almost ready to quit the sport and give into the pressure of joining the family real estate business. His father intervened and convinced Prajnesh to give it one last shot.

To revive his career, Prajnesh also turned to German trainer Christian Bosse – the Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Netherlands Olympics team. Under his directions, Prajnesh found his lost spark.

In 2016, Prajnesh reached his first ATP Challenger final at Pune and a year later, made his Davis Cup debut for India against Uzbekistan.

The year 2018, however, turned out to be crucial in Prajnesh Gunneswaran’s comeback trail. The Indian tennis player won two ATP Challenger events – the Kunming Open in China and Bengaluru Open in India – whilst securing runners up finishes in two others.

Prajnesh also won the Asian Games bronze medal in men’s singles in 2018 after going down to eventual champion Denis Istomin in the semi-finals. In the Davis Cup, he played a starring role in India’s win over China after beating Yibing Wu in the decisive fifth rubber.

He also came close to making his Grand Slam debut at the French Open that year. Despite losing his final qualifying game, he made the cut as the lucky loser after Nick Kyrgios withdrew from Roland Garros.

Unfortunately, the Indian had already left Paris before the announcement and missed his chance.

The highlight of the year for Prajnesh, however, was a stunning Mercedes Cup victory over Canadian ace Denis Shapovalov – a player regarded as one of world tennis’ next-gen superstars.

On the back of an incredible season, Prajnesh finished the year as the top-ranked Indian men’s singles player, ahead of the likes of Yuki Bhambri and Sumit Nagal.

“It’s surreal that I am here all of sudden. Obviously, it did not happen overnight, I have put in a lot of work into it. This is something, which has happened on the way. I have the potential to be much higher than what I am today,” Prajnesh had told PTI.

Riding the momentum, Prajnesh played in all four Grand Slams in 2019. He made it through the qualifiers to mark his Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open and earned direct entries to the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open based on rankings.

In April 2019, he reached his career-high singles ranking of 75. Considering he was No. 1590 in the ATP Rankings in July 2015, it demonstrated just how far the once written-off Prajnesh had come.

Towards the end of the year, Prajnesh suffered setbacks with another bout with injury and the death of his father, who had been his guiding beacon throughout his career.

“2019 was a mixed year for me. I did make the main draws of the Grand Slams, obviously did not win any of them, the quality of the opponents did not make it any easier. What I did not like about it is that I got injuries at the wrong time,” he told Olympics.com.

In the COVID-impacted period, Prajnesh enjoyed successes in patches, reaching back-to-back finals at two ATP Challenger tournaments in the US and playing his fifth consecutive Grand Slam at the 2021 Australian Open.

In 2023, Prajnesh Gunneswaran beat Uzbekistan's Khumoyun Sultanov to win an ITF men’s tennis tournament in Al Zahra, Kuwait - the 11th title of his career and the first since the Bengaluru Open in 2018.

It also proved to be his last as he retired from the sport in November 2024.

There are players who have potential but do not fulfil it. If I don’t fulfil my potential, what’s the point? I have enough potential to create the weapons that will take me to the top.