It's the first time Prajnesh will have a fellow countryman giving him company in the singles main draw of Grand Slams this year
While most eyeballs of Indian tennis fans will be on the Sumit Nagal vs Roger Federer encounter at Arthur Ashe Stadium, a few hours prior to that, Prajnesh Gunneswaran will have an equally tough challenge in the second-biggest court at Flushing Meadows.
India's top-ranked singles player will play his opening round of the US Open against fifth seed and world No. 5 Daniil Medvedev at the Louis Armstrong Stadium on Monday night (India time).
It's the first time Prajnesh will have a fellow countryman giving him company in the singles main draw of Grand Slams this year, and the 29-year-old was kicked about his young compatriot having a chance to play Federer.
"It's just amazing," Prajnesh told DNA from New York. "That is the kind of match everyone dreams of, it's goosebumps stuff when you see the draw. Maybe the chances of winning are not high, but you want to play a match like that and go out there all guns blazing.
"Sumit deserves to get a match like this after being a set and 1-4 down (in the final qualifying round). I'm happy for him and hope he enjoys the atmosphere," he added.
Having two Indians in the singles main draw of a Grand Slam is something that hasn't happened since 1998 when Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi played the Wimbledon. And while it provides Indian tennis a temporary high, Prajnesh remains careful about not going overboard with the hoopla.
"It's a step in the right direction for sure, but the popularity of tennis in India won't increase overnight. Two guys have to consistently be doing well in Slams main draw for that. Of course, there will be a certain amount of eyeballs, especially with Sumit playing Federer and me playing Daniil. But in general, it's not good enough. To create more impact for our sport in India, we need to be consistently successful," Prajnesh, who turned pro in 2012, said.
As for him personally, the world No. 89 has played in all the three previous Grand Slams this year, the Australian Open being his maiden appearance. He's had to taste a hat-trick of first-round losses in Australia, French Open as well as the Wimbledon. Yet, Prajnesh is not stressing over breaking the opening barrier.
"It doesn't matter even if I lose seven first rounds and then I make to a quarters, I'll be happy with that. I'm interested in being able to win consistently at this level. Obviously, it'll be nice to get those wins under the belt but I'm not someone who will think about how many rounds I've lost to get there," he said.
Prajnesh said that he is going into the last Slam of the season in "pretty good" form and shape, having beaten world No. 61 John Millman at the ATP Los Cabos Open in Mexico last month, although he exited from a couple of opening rounds in Atlanta and Newport prior to that.
His opponent, meanwhile, is playing better than ever. The fifth-ranked Russian won the ATP 1000 Cincinnati Open earlier this month and has more ATP match victories under his belt (44) than any other player this season.
"It's a tough draw," Prajnesh said. "Daniil is playing very well right now. But I'm the underdog and I can go out there and play my game. It's going to be a big court with a lot of people watching, so it's going to be exciting."
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