Australia’s Nick Kyrgios was forced to withdraw from the French Open this year after failing to recover from an elbow injury. This meant that Prajnesh Gunneswaran, the ‘lucky loser’ in the qualifying round could enter the main draw. But Prajnesh, by then, had left Paris to play a Challenger tournament in Vicenza, Italy.
Meanwhile, Argentina’s Marco Trungelliti, the next lucky loser in line, drove over nine hours from Barcelona, over 1,000 kms, to sign up for the main draw match against Bernard Tomic, which he won 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
Trungelliti’s campaign ended in the next match, when he lost 1-6, 6-7, 1-6 to Marco Cecchinato. But his road-trip from Barcelona to Paris, with his family, was a story that was cherished by many in this year’s Roland Garros.
Prajnesh and Marco crossed paths again, six months later, at the Bengaluru Open.
When asked if he spoke to Marco, Prajnesh joked, “I did see him and I told him you owe me 10000 euros.”
“He found a way to get there and it’s behind me now,” added Prajnesh, who eased into the second round of the tournament with a 6-2, 6-2 win against Russia’s Ivan Nedelko.
But Marco’s campaign was cut short on the second day, when he went down to Turkey’s Cem Ilkel 2-6, 6-3, 6-7. He, however, recounted his 1,000 km-drive after the match.
“It was nice. We took the cab before we knew that I was going to play the day after. I had my grandma, my mama and my brother. It was a special trip. Time for sharing and conversations and then the day after it was good because we won,” he said.
Trungelliti’s had a mixed season after Roland Garros – he hasn’t won a title, he finished runner-up at the Florence Challenger, he failed to qualify for the US Open and Wimbledon.
“Life hasn’t changed too much [after Roland Garros],” he said.
“Actually the month after I was dealing with an injury. So, I didn’t even play. I had a lot of interviews in Paris but after that... the Tour is like that... you go somewhere else and play and nobody knows.”
“As tennis players, for us, it’s normal. We don’t go to a Grand Slam like this but there are a lot of opportunities as you go from one tournament to another where you go by car, arrive late and stories like this but there is no media. That’s why nobody knows more stories like this.”
The curly-mopped Argentinian’s doubles campaign also ended on Tuesday after he and his Kazakh partner Aleksandr Nedovyesov lost to Chinese Taipei’s Cheng-Peng Hsieh and Tsung-Hua Yang 1-6, 6-3, [3-10].
He isn’t sure if he’d go on to play the KPIT-MSLTA Challenger in Pune.
Prajnesh, meanwhile, is in the midst of his most prosperous years in tennis. He started 2018 at 243 and surged to top-200 by April. In October, he broke into top-150 for the first time and was ranked at 141.
Prajnesh won a Futures event in Chandigarh and the An-Ning ATP Challenger event in China (his first ATP Challenger title). He also clinched the bronze medal at the Asian Games.
In Stuttgart, he stunned Canadian teen sensation Denis Shapovalov, world No 27, in three sets. He also beat the higher-ranked Italian, Thomas Fabbiano, in Liuzhou Challenger.
“The season’s not over yet,” Prajnesh said after his win on Tuesday. “I have a few more to tournaments to go and I’m looking forward to finishing the year strong. I’ve improved over the season. I am consistently doing well in Challengers and hoping to continue the trend.”
Because of the successes he’s had this year, Prajnesh didn’t rue missing the French Open ticket.
“I’ve been playing well and I’ve had a good season. Last few weeks in China went well for me. So, I’m pretty optimistic and positive coming in. Conditions are different here of course, so I have to obviously focus and play as well as possible,” he said.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!