French Open: Prajnesh, Ankita bow out of qualifiers

On Wednesday, Prajnesh lost 4-6, 6-7(4) and was knocked out of the qualifiers. Chennai-based Prajnesh, ranked 141 in the world, began poorly as he was broken in the opening game of the match. However, the Indian did have a chance to claw back when he had two break-points in the fourth game.

But, he failed to convert them and lost the first set. The 30-year-old Prajnesh got off to a strong start in the second set and took a 2-0 lead, but the Australian broke back in the third game. Both players then held serve throughout the set, taking it to a tie-breaker, where Prajesh lost serve four times and bowed out.

Meanwhile, Ankita Raina could not go past the second round of the women’s singles qualifying event, suffering a straight-set defeat against Japan’s Kurumi Nara. Ankita lost 3-6, 2-6 in an hour and 21 minutes.