Sumit Nagal salvaged some pride for India as he upset fourth seed Ryan Peniston of Great Britain 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the second round of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger 100 tournament on Tuesday.
Nagal got early break in the first set to go 2-0 up before surrendering it in the fifth game to trail 3-2. The duo then traded breaks in the next two games.
In the tenth game, Nagal produced two brilliant forehand winners, one cross-court and another down the line, to seal it 6-4.
In the second set, Nagal lost his serve in the opening game but broke back at love to make it 2-1.
From there on, the 25-year-old held the upper hand and had a few more break points through the set, but couldn’t convert it.
Eventually, like in the first set, Nagal broke 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 match.
Earlier, three other Indians faltered in their respective first-round matches, with only Prajnesh Gunneswaran putting up a brave fight against Jay Clarke before a muscle cramp in his ankle, followed by a fall during the final set tie-breaker, hampered his chances.
The results (first round): 2-James Duckworth bt Carlos Sanchez Jover 6-4, 6-2; Petr Nouza bt 5-Luca Nardi 6-4, 7-5; Dane Sweeny bt 6-Francesco Maestrelli 6-3, 6-4; 7-Dalibor Svrcina bt Alibek Kachmazov 6-2, 6-3; Dimitar Kuzmanov bt Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-3, 7-6(3); Max Purcell bt Sasikumar Mukund 6-2, 6-2; Jay Clarke bt Prajnesh Gunneswaran 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4); Hamad Medjedovic bt Leo Borg 6-1, 4-6, 6-2; James McCabe bt Yu Hsiou Hsu 6-1, 6-4; Jason Jung bt Harold Mayot 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(5).
