Dominic Thiem may have brought a high-flying Sumit Nagal quickly down to earth, beating him 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round of the US Open on Thursday, but the India No. 1 called the match an “eye-opener.”
Nagal, who this week became the first Indian in seven years to win a Grand Slam singles match , did well to stay with the second seed early on, even coming back from a 0-3 deficit in the opening set. But hopes of him matching his feat from last year, when he took a set off Roger Federer at the same Arthur Ashe Stadium, quickly dissipated once the World No. 3 found his groove.
Too many errors
“It told me how far I am from someone who I want to play like,” Nagal said later. “He has more experience and knows how to play better on courts like this. I was always trying to chase him and made too many errors.”
The mistakes that will rankle him the most came in his service games. Like in the first-round win, Nagal continued to land a high percentage of his first serves (71%). Disappointingly, he won just 56% of those points. Thiem, in contrast, got 64% of first serves in, but won three-fourths of the points.
It wouldn’t have helped even if he had ramped up the serve speed, the 23-year-old felt. Where his average first serve was 160kmph, Thiem’s was 182. “If I want to, I can hit 200[kmph]. The plan was to play with a high percentage of first serves. But I gave away too many free points.”
“I think I will get better with experience,” Nagal added. “The more matches I play, the more I will learn to be disciplined, stick to a game-plan and not get carried away.”
Educative
Regardless of the defeat, the World No. 124 said the last few weeks were educative. Prior to New York, at the ATP Challenger in Prague, he stretched three-time Major champion Stan Wawrinka to three sets before losing.
“The experience will help. You don't get to play against such big players and Slam champions often. They are so consistent at what they do. I need to include that in my game: how to start and finish with good focus, energy and discipline.”
If Nagal can put these lessons into practice at his next tournament — the French Open qualifiers in less than three weeks’ time — it will be a job well done.
