Gunneswaran enters Orlando Open semis

Orlando (USA): India's Prajnesh Gunneswaran defeated Dmitri Popko of Kazakhstan in straight sets to enter the semi-finals of Orlando Open tennis.

The fourth-seeded player turned in a dominating 6-0, 6-3 performance, earning six breaks along the way against a weary sixth-seeded Popko, who had spent more than four hours on court the day before between singles and doubles.

Gunneswaran will now face Christopher Eubanks of the United States in the last four. The 31-year-old Indian smashed two aces against none by his Kazakh opponent.

Gunneswaran won 61% of the first-serve points and 58% of the second service points. He also saved 67% of the break points.

The world No. 137 was clearly the more dominant of the two in winning the service points (60% against 30%), return points (70% against 40%) as well as the total points (64% against 36%).

In the other semi-final, American Mitchell Krueger will face compatriot Brandon Nakashima, who is a teenager.