Prajnesh stuns Basilashvili at Indian Wells

Indian qualifier Prajnesh Gunneswaran achieved the biggest win of his career when he stunningly knocked world number 18 Nikoloz Basilashvili out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters event, continuing his dream run here.

Playing his maiden singles main draw at this level, the Indian left-hander secured a hard-fought 6-4 6(6)-7 7-6(4) victory over the Georgian in two hours 32 minutes.

The world number 97 needed only a single break of serve to take the lead in the match. Prajnesh broke Basilashvili's serve in the fifth game and then held his serve to take the opening set in 31 minutes.

The second and third sets were tightly contested and went into tie breaks with Basilashvili emerging victorious in the former and Prajnesh in the latter to seal a spot in the next round.

"It was definitely a huge match. I think I played well better than I did in the previous round. I had to step up because I was playing a really good player, someone who has been in form and is ranked in the top 20," Prajnesh told PTI.

"He is an aggressive tennis player, hits the ball big and I didn't have too much room to just put the ball in and hope for the best. I came out and was firing and stayed with the right intensity. I think this is one of my best matches mentally and I'm showing myself that I can be at this level."