Prajnesh Gunnerswaran bows out of Ningbo Challenger in the QFs

India's number one tennis player Pranjesh Gunnerswaran was knocked out of the Ningbo Open in China after losing to Steven Diez of Canada. The Chennai-born player lost to Diez in straight sets 3-6, 4-6 on Friday. 

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Prajnesh's tournament started with relative ease and he did not actually play the first round after he was given a bye. In the following rounds, he beat Max Purcell, Tsung-hua Yang before bowing out of the tournament against the Canadian. Gunnerswaran had won the previous two rounds in straight sets.

Gunnerswaran was not the only Indian in the tournament. Sidharth Rawat also played in the tournament after winning a qualifier against the Zhao Zhao. However, Rawat lost in the first round itself to Japan's Youske Watanuki 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

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Prajnesh Gunnerswaran has had a really positive year. He made his Grand Slam debut at the Australia Open and went on to play in the remaining three Grand Slams as well. Gunnerswaran also broke into the top-100 in the world rankings and is currently ranked 82. He's played in a number of tournaments - challengers and masters this year, helping him to find the right compoetioin to improve his game. Gunnerswaran also qualified for his first-ever ATP Masters 1000 main draw where he defeated  Benoit Paire 7-6(5), 6-4 in the first round and followed with a hard-fought 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-6(4) win over No. 17 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili.

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Sumit Nagal is another Indian player who has made the news recently. He made his Grand Slam debut at the US Open, and played Roger Feder in the opening match. Nagal could nick a set off the Swiss great, but eventually lost the match. Nagal who is considerably younger than Gunnerswaran, is ranked 128 in the world. He recently won the ATP Challenger in the Buenos Aires, becoming the first Asian to do so.

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