New Delhi: Top-ranked Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal lost the opening round of Winston-Salem Open, an ATP 250 event, on Monday, August 19, played at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex in North Carolina. The World No.74 suffered straight set defeat 6-4, 6-2 to Borna Coric of Croatia.
Despite finding an early break in the opening set, Nagal couldn’t hold on to the momentum and lost control against Coric’s brilliant baseline game. Nagal dropped his serve four times after failing to match his opponent’s patience, composure and precise shot-making ability.
There were some moments in the match where Nagal displayed his calibre to the greatest extent but the Croatian was consistent as well as resolute to be beaten, The match was wrapped in 68 minutes as Coric advanced to the second round of the 250 ATP event, where he will face top seed Sebastian Baez of Argentina.
For Nagal, this was a second straight defeat after he failed to get past the qualifiers in the Cincinnati Masters 100 Challenger event. He lost to United States of America’s Mackenzie McDonald 2-6, 4-6 in the qualifying round. These two early exits only adds struggles to the Haryana-based player’s journey after he failed to make an impact in the Paris Olympics last month, bowing out of the first round with defeat to France’s Corentin Moutet in a hard-fought game 2-6, 6-2, 5-7 in the Round of 64.
Dhakshineswar Suresh to focus on doubles after failing to qualify for singles
In the doubles draw, former junior national champion Dhakshineswar Suresh will feature along with British partner Luca Pow. The Indian-British duo will face Andres Molteni (Argentina) and Ariel Behar (Uruguay) in the Round of 16.
The Tamil Nadu-based player, who is in US College circuit, could not qualify for the singles main draw, falling in the second round of the qualifying event 3-6 4-6 to American fourth seed Learner Tien. He is a former junior national champion.
(With inputs from PTI)
This was a second straight defeat after he failed to get past the qualifiers in the Cincinnati Masters 100 Challenger event. He lost to United States of America’s Mackenzie McDonald 2-6, 4-6 in the qualifying round. Tennis Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
