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ESPN staff
Indian qualifier Prajnesh Gunneswaran stunned world no. 18 Nikoloz Basilashvili to achieve the biggest win of his career so far, advancing to the third round of the Indian Wells ATP Masters event on Saturday.
In a match lasting two hours and 31 minutes, Prajnesh secured a hard-fought 6-4, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (4) win.
Flying the Indian flag in Indian Wells ����
Gunneswaran defeats No.17 seed Basilashvili to reach round three for the first time#BNPPO19 pic.twitter.com/fVXDEKdd39
– Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 10 March 2019
Playing his first singles main draw at the Masters level, the Indian left-hander had earlier shocked France’s Benoit Paire 7-6 (5), 6-4 in one hour and 29 minutes on Thursday.
Before this match, Gunneswaran had defeated then world no. 23 Denis Shapovalov for the biggest win of his career at the Stuttgart ATP 250 event last year. The world no. 97 Indian next faces world no. 89 Ivo Karlovic.
With this win, Gunneswaran will atleast rise up to 80th in the ATP rankings on Monday, which will be his new career-best.