Prajnesh Gunneswaran, India's no. 1 ranked tennis player has risen considerably over the past few years. Prajnesh was ranked no. 484 at the start of the 2016 season. But the Indian soared steadily through the rankings and is currently ranked no. 82 in the world. He recently made his ATP Masters 1000 main draw debut at the BNP Paribas Open.
At the age of 29, Gunneswaran is advancing on the ATP tour. He has won two ATP challenger tournament and entered the main draw of the ATP Masters 1000. He also became the Indian no. 1 and breakthrough to the top 100.
But Prajnesh had to deal with plenty of problems before succeeding on tour. A string of injuries hindered his junior career. He accepted that the injuries caused him a lot of issues in his career. Gunneswaran planned to turn pro after playing one year of tennis at the University of Tennessee. But the South Indian struggled with repeated fractures on his knees for four years. He was able to play only a handful of tournaments and was unable to train full-fledged. He was unranked till 2015 and was ready to retire from professional tennis.
He said in an interview with The Hindu, “I just had to deal with the fact that I was injured. I couldn’t find any answers, but I went about my rehab. I accepted that I couldn’t play unless I were fit. I was in India for long periods, and the coaches back in Germany kept asking me to come back. They referred me to physios and new training methods, but somehow nothing was working, and I could never fix it. The reason for the injury was a combination of overtraining and some muscular imbalance.”
But Prajnesh was lucky to have a supportive family, his family believed in him. He said, “My parents told me to give it one last shot, and that’s how I’m here now.” Gunneswaran coach Christian Bosse gave a new life to his tennis career. Prajnesh said, “He gave me a really good bicycle program, and over some time that gave me the base I needed to be able to start training with the right intensity.”
Prajnesh Gunneswaran is the only hope for Indians in the singles event in Tennis. He represents India at the Davis Cup. At 2018 Asian Games, he brought a bronze medal for the country in the singles event. He is an inspiration for Indians and a promoter of the game in India. Prajnesh would hope to improve his rankings and win more titles along with his career.
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