Gutsy Indian tennis star Gunneswaran marches on at Indian Wells with another stunning win

In a dramatic duel, the underdog Prajnesh Gunneswaran, from India, has overpowered his opponent from Georgia – world No. 17 Nikoloz Basilashvili – to advance to round 32 of the Indian Wells ATP Masters in California.

The world no. 97 Indian tennis sensation showed tremendous skill and stamina against the Georgian player, in a tense game which saw the match decided by two tie-break sets. Yet, at the end of the grueling battle, the Indian put in slightly better performance and won 6-4, 6-7, 7-6.

Each player managed to score ten aces against the other, but the Georgian showed a bit less determination, recording 11 double faults in the match, compared to just a single double fault by Gunneswaran. For the rest of the encounter it was neck-and-neck.

The left-hander continues his breakthrough on the ATP Tour, where he’d earlier secured what he called a pivotal career win against world no. 69 Benoit Paire on Thursday. The 29-year-old’s performance already made him a national hero, as Gunneswaran became only the third Indian player to break into the Top-100 list over the past decade, after Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri.

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