Prajnesh says he “did hit” world number five Daniil Medvedev with his game in the US Open first round but a twisted ankle did not allow him to be consistently aggressive.
The Indian left-hander began aggressively but could not maintain intensity after losing a well-fought first set at the Louis Armstrong Stadium.
“He is very consistent. He does not make many errors. But I did feel I was able to hit him with my game. I needed to do it consistently and for that I needed to move well, but I twisted my ankle and it made it a bit difficult,” Prajnesh said, reflecting on his defeat.
“He is very good on the backhand corner. Even if he goes on the run, he was good with his cross court, so that was one of the shots he used to neutralise my forehand even when I hit it well. But, overall, a good experience,” added the 29-year-old from Chennai.
Unforced errors from Prajnesh when Medvedev served for the opening set made the job easy for the world number five.
“I was very excited to play on Stadium court, the atmosphere. Someone, who is on top of his game, the world number five, I wanted to play him to see where I stand as opposed to his level,” he said.
So what’s his assessment then?
“I am playing well, I do need to improve things here and there. That’s always going to be the case. Probably I need to be little more consistent when I am aggressive. Not the way I did in the second and third sets. “That was because I twisted my ankle. But in general I need to be little more consistent,” he said.