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Patna : World No 169 in ATP rankings Prajnesh Gunneswaran, 28, India, beat World No 23 Denis Shapovalov, 19, Canada, in the first round of Stuttgart Open also known as Mercedes Cup, an ATP 250 grass court event on June 13, 2018, in a major upset. Shapovalov had upset Rafael Nadal, 32, Spain, in Canadian Open in 2017.

Playing his first ATP world tour tournament, Prajnesh stunned the fast rising Canadian tennis star Shapovalov 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 on Mercedes court at Stuttgart, Germany, to move into the second round. Incidentally, Shapovalov’s winning percentage on both first and second serve was better than that of Prajnesh.

Shapovalov also fired 8 Aces while Prajnesh fired just 4. But, Shapovalov committed 5 double faults to just one by Prajnesh. Shapovalov won 5 break points while Prajnesh won 4. Overall, Prajnesh won 92 points while Shapovalov won 91. Prajnesh also won 5 games in a row to 3 by Shapovalov.

Prajnesh broke Shapovalov’s service in the first game of the first set but then held his own to lead 2-0. But, Shapovalov soon broke back and first set went to tie break which Prajnesh won 8-6. In the second set, Shapovalov broke Prajnesh’s service in the first game and soon took 4-1 lead by breaking his service again.

World No 50 Maximilian Marterer, 22, Germany, who had lost to World No 1 Rafael Nadal in the Round of 16 in French Open 2018, also entered the second round beating World No 181 Viktor Galovic, 27, Italy, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 on the Centre Court.

World No 47 Benoit Paire, 29, France, beat World No 67 Taylor Fritz, 20, USA, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 to enter the second round of Stuttgart Open. World No 35 Milos Raonic, 27, Canada, beat World No 78 Mirza Basic, 26, Bosnia & Herzegovina,  7-6, 6-2, on Mercedes Court, to enter the second round.

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