On Tuesday, Sumit Nagal saved some face for India by advancing to the second round of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger 100 tournament by defeating Ryan Peniston of Great Britain, who was the fourth seed in the tournament. Nagal won the match 6-4, 6-4.
In the first set, Nagal had an early break, which helped them go up 2-0, but they lost it in the fifth game, which put them behind 3-2. After that, each player took a turn at being broken in the subsequent two games.
The match was decided by Nagal’s two outstanding forehand winners in the tenth game; the first was a cross-court winner, and the second was a down-the-line winner.
In the opening game of the second set, Nagal was broken at love by his opponent, but he was able to break back and make it 2-1.
The 25-year-old player had the advantage from that point onward and had a few more opportunities to break serve throughout the set, but she was unable to do so.
After a while, just like in the first set, Nagal eventually broke through in the tenth game with two powerfully hit forehand winners to make it 30-40 before drawing an unforced error from the Brit to seal the deal and win the match.
Prajnesh Gunneswaran was the only other Indian to put up a brave fight against Jay Clarke before suffering a muscle cramp in his ankle and then falling during the final set tie-breaker, both of which hindered his chances of winning the match. Earlier, three other Indians failed to advance past the first round of their respective matches.
These are the results from the first round: 2-James Duckworth defeated Carlos Sanchez Jover in two sets, 6-4 and 6-2; Petr Nouza defeated Luca Nardi in two sets, 6-4 and 7-5; Dane Sweeny defeated Francesco Maestrelli in two sets, 6-3 and 6-4; 7-Dalibor Svrcina defeated Alibek Kachmazov in two sets, 6-2 and 6-3; Dimitar Kuzmanov defeated Ramkumar Ramanathan in three sets, 6-2, 6-2; Jay Clarke bt Prajnesh Gunneswaran James McCabe defeated Yu Hsiou Hsu 6-1, 6-4; Hamad Medjedovic defeated Leo Borg 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4); Jason Jung defeated Harold Mayot 6-3, 1-6, 7-6; and Hamad Medjedovic defeated Leo Borg 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. (5).
Meanwhile, Indian star Sumit Nagal gets a wild card at Bengaluru Open 2023
At the fifth iteration of the prestigious ATP Challenger event, which will be organized by the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) at the KSLTA Stadium in Bengaluru, the former India No. 1 player, who is now 25 years old, is the first wild card entrant. The event will be held in Bengaluru.
At the fifth iteration of the prestigious ATP Challenger event, which will be organized by the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) at the KSLTA Stadium in Bengaluru, the former India No. 1 player, who is now 25 years old, is the first wild card entrant. The event will be held in Bengaluru.
“It is with great pleasure that we announce that Nagal has been awarded the first wild card for the fifth annual DafaNews Bengaluru Open. He is a very talented player and this was the location of his first-ever ATP Challenger victory. Through this tournament, we are dedicated to giving our Indian players the opportunity to compete alongside the most illustrious names in tennis from around the world on a stage of world-class caliber. Nagal is one of those players who has shown promise in this tournament and has gone on to demonstrate success in their professional careers as a result of that momentum. Sunil Yajaman, the Tournament Director of the Bengaluru Open and the Joint Secretary of the KSLTA, was quoted as saying, “I’m confident that he will make the most of this opportunity and produce a good show.”
