Prajnesh hits court after coronavirus-induced hiatus

India's top tennis player Prajnesh Gunneswaran returned to the courts on Friday after over two-and-a-half months with a training session at the SDAT Nungambakkam stadium. The 30-year old southpaw, ranked 132 in the world, hit with talented Sasikumar Mukund and Manish Sureshkumar. Like other sports, tennis has come to a grinding halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic with tournaments across the globe, including Wimbledon championships, being cancelled.

Prajnesh hits court

"It was good to play tennis after so long. It will take some time to get back to the routine. But it was fun to be back after such a long break," Prajnesh told PTI.

Prajnesh said he would begin slowly with short sessions and then build up. "I am just going to start slowly. Shorter sessions." The Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) has granted permission to only Prajnesh, Mukund and Sureshkumar to use the court facilities as of now. Mukund, who began training from Thursday, said it felt good to be back on court. He and Sureshkumar hit for nearly one and a half hours yesterday. 

Image credits: PTI