Bengaluru Open: Saketh Myneni to square off against Prajnesh Gunneswaran in all-Indian final

Bengaluru: Saketh Myneni will square off with compatriot Prajnesh Gunneswaran in an all-India summit clash at the Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger tournament on Saturday. In Friday’s first semi-final, Myneni beat Kazakhastan’s Aleksandr Nedovyesov 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a thrilling three-setter to make it to the title round of USD 150, 000 event. [caption id=“attachment_5176311” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Prajnesh Gunneswaran. Reuters[/caption] In the second semi-final, Gunneswaran breezed past Canadian Brayden Schnur 6-4, 6-1. World no 213 Myneni made an easy third set difficult after racing to a 5-0 lead in the decider. He committed far too many unforced errors, helping Aleksandr win four games on the trot before closing the match in the 10th game. “I started a bit slow, but accelerated as I had to give something to the spectators who assembled here. From second set onwards, I played an aggressive game, though I committed a few unforced errors,” Myneni said after the match. “Yes, in the deciding set, I missed out on some of the easy volleys at the net. Yes, I have to cut down on my errors and I am working on it,” he added. Having lost the first set, Myneni was down 1-3 in the second set but held his serve and broke Aleksandr in sixth game to make it 3-3. In the ninth game, Myneni brought about a couple of first winners on his serves, racing past his rival 5-4. Serving at 0-15, Aleksandr was stunned by a forehand winner by Myneni, who broke his opponent to win the set and restored parity before winning the decider.