Prajnesh shocks Shapovalov

Indian Davis Cupper Prajnesh Gunneswaran on Wednesday earned the biggest win of his career by stunning world number 23 Denis Shapovalov in the opening round of the ATP Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart.

The left-handed Indian shocked the Canadian sixth seed 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-3 in the opening round of the Euro 729,340 grass court event.

Prajnesh, who had won the decisive fifth rubber against Yibing Wu in the Davis Cup tie against China, has been in good nick in the last few months, winning his maiden ATP Challenger tournament.

Two days back, he touched his career-best rank of 169 in singles. He next faces Argentina's world number 75 Guido Pella and if he wins that, he may run into legendary Roger Federer in the quarterfinals.

The Indian singles player have made their presence felt on the Tour with their big wins off late.

Yuki Bhambri had got the better of World No 12 Lucas Pouille in March at the Indian Wells Masters.

In August 2017, Bhambri had beaten World No 22 and Citi Open defending champion Gael Monfils and in June 2017, Ramkumar Ramanathan had knocked out then world number eight Dominic Thiem, who ended as runner-up to Rafael Nadal at recently concluded French Open.