Sumit Nagal eliminated in first match on return to Challenger circuit
Sumit Nagal went down fighting in the opening round of the Genoa Challenger as he was ousted by local player Giulio Zepperi in straight sets. The Indian had only last week made his Grand Slam debut when he played Roger Federer in the US Open first round, managing to win a set against the legend.
After having enjoyed a good run of form in the past couple of weeks, Sumit Nagal suffered an upset against a lowly ranked Giulio Zepperi in the first round itself of the ATP Genoa Challenger tournament in Italy.
Having being broken in the initial stages of the first set, Nagal failed to break back to give away an easy set to the opponent. He showed more grit in the second set and looked to stage a fightback after breaking the Italian but ultimately ended up succumbing to a 1-6, 5-7 defeat.
He had returned to the Challenger circuit after successful exploits in the US, where he had managed to win three qualifying rounds to qualify for the Grand Slam main event, a career first. Drawn with world number three and record title-holder in the Open era Roger Federer, Nagal made the world take notice by winning the first set and giving the legend a scare. Even though he ended up losing the next three sets in succession, his achievements were quite considerable for a 22-year-old Indian.
Currently ranked 190th in the world, Nagal is said to have great potential by Indian veterans such as Mahesh Bhupathi and is expected to bring unprecedented glory to the country in the singles arena.
“Well, it’s going to be just Challengers, challengers until I break the Top 100. So yeah, that’s how it is. I want to do it [break into the Top 100] this year. That’s why I have clay court challengers lined up for the rest of the year. That’s what I am chasing,” Nagal had said after his defeat at the Arthur Ashe Arena in New York, according to Scroll.in.
