Indian qualifier Prajnesh Gunneswaran will take on Guido Pella of Argentina in the second round of Mercedes Open, an ATP 250 tournament in Stuttgart on Thursday, June 14.
When is the match and how to watch it live
The second round match between Prajnesh and Pella will not start before 11 am local time, 2:30 pm IST. Live stream will be available on ATP's official website. There is no television coverage of the match in India.
Live scores of the match will be available here.
Gunneswaran vs Pella - Stuttgart Open second round preview
First things first. The winner of Thursday's second-round match will face 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in the quarter-final later this week.
Prajnesh, the world number 169, had an opportunity to make his Grand Slam debut at French Open last month. Despite losing to Elias Ymer in the final round of qualifying, the 28--year-old got an opportunity to play the main draw after Australia's Nick Kyrgios had pulled out.
However, much to his disappointment, he had left the city of Paris for a Challenger event in Italy and was thus ruled out of contention.
However, two weeks later, Prajnesh made his first main draw appearance at the tour level when he won his qualifying rounds at the Mercedes Open.
Prajnesh overcomes French Open disappointment to clinch biggest career win
The Chennai-born player made an immediate impression as he clinched the biggest win of his career in the first round on Wednesday when he stunned higher-ranked (23) Denis Shapovalov of Canada.
Prajnesh needed three sets to cause one of the biggest upsets of the tournament. The southpaw started the match on a high by holding his nerves to win the first-set tie-breaker. After suffering a minor blip in the second set, the Indian qualifier recovered in style to take the match 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-3.
The Indian qualifier showcased his serving prowess on Wednesday, winning 71% of points on first serves. With a strong forehand, Prajnesh was able to trouble Shapovalov, who had not played a lot on grass before his Stuttgart opener.
The Davis Cupper is in for a stiff test against Pella, the world number 75 who has a better experience of playing at the tour level. Notably, the two players, who have similar playing style, are facing each other for the first time in their careers.
Buoyed by the win, Prajnesh will be heading into the second-round match with a lot of confidence. However, he has insisted he is not thinking about the possible meeting with Federer and that he is focussing on the task at hand — the match against Pella.
"I honestly haven't thought that far ahead, I'm taking it one day at a time. I'm really happy but I've still got a match tomorrow. I need to prepare for that, I can't just live in the moment," Prajnesh was quoted as saying by Sportstar.
