Prajnesh Gunneswaran marched into the quarterfinals of the $ 15,000 ITF tournament, outplaying compatriot Ronak Manuja even as reigning national grass court champion Vishnu Vardhan made exit after losing his second round match in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Prajnesh, who shocked fifth seed Ashutosh on Tuesday, continued his good form to beat Manuja 6-4, 6-2 in his second round match in one hour and 15 minutes at the DLTA complex.
However, the Chennai left-hander did not look in the same magical touch which he showed in his memorable win against reigning hard court national champion Ashutosh.
Prajnesh was a bit rusty, which he later attributed to the long match he played on Tuesday but cashed in on the momentum set in his favour when Ronak dropped his serve in the very first game of the match.
Like the previous day, Prajnesh missed a few breakpoints but ensured he held serve throughout the match to emerge winner.
Ronak again dropped his serve in the beginning of the second set, thanks to a couple of miscued forehand shots, which made things easier for the 18-year-old Prajnesh.
Ronak continued to made unforced errors and Prajnesh has little trouble wrapping up the match.
"Yes, my intensity dropped but my legs were tired too. I played a long match yesterday. I also need to serve better," Prajnesh said after the match.
Earlier, Vishnu, playing against the top-seed Peter Gojowczyk of Germany, lost 4-6, 4-6 in his second round match, dropping his serve in the fifth games of the both the sets.
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