Bengaluru Open 2023: Sumit Nagal wins thriller to advance to second round

India’s Sumit Nagal continued his good form as he defeated Hoang Nam Ly of Vietnam by 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 on Tuesday. The local lad had to battle for 3 hours and 19 minutes to get over the line against the opponent.

Nagal went 2-4 down in the first set but bounced back in style to get his break back. The 25-year-old won the tiebreaker to pocket the opening set but lost the second set by 5-7.

Both the players lost their serve in the third and final set but Nagal was able to once again get a break in the 10th game. Nagal was then able to close out the game to seal his Round-of-16 place in the Bengaluru Open. The Indian was earlier given a wild card entry into the main draw.

This is the sixth win for Nagal in his last seven matches as he recently made it to the semifinals of the Chennai Open but his run was ended by America’s Nicolas Moreno De Alboran.

The 409-ranked Nagal will face Australia’s Max Purcell, who recently won the Chennai Open, in the second round.

On the other hand, India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran won against Carlos Sanchez Jover of Spain by registering a 6-4, 6-3 win whereas M Sasikumar went down fighting to Jason Jung in straight sets 5-7, 4-6.

Results (round of 32): Sumit Nagal (Ind) bt Hoang Nam Ly (Vie) 7-6, 5-7, 6-4; 8-Dimitar Kuzmanov (Bul) bt Nikola Milojevic (Srb) 6-4, 6-1; 2-James Duckworth (Aus) bt Rio Noguchi (Jpn) 7-6, 6-1; Alibek Kachmazov bt Maximilian Neuchrist (Aut) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2; Max Purcell (Aus) bt Sebastian Ofner (Aut) 7-6, 3-6, 6-3; Jason Jung (Tpe) bt SD Prajwal Dev (Ind) 6-2, 6-2; Nicolas Moreno de Alboran (USA) bt 7-Dalibor Svrcina (Cze) 7-5, 6-2; James McCabe (Aus) bt Lorenzo Giustino (Ita) 6-2, 7-6; Hamad Medjedovic (Srb) bt Prajnesh Gunneswaran (Ind) 6-3, 6-4; Harold Mayot (Fra) bt Dane Sweeny (Aus) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4; 3-Ryan Peniston (GBR) bt Nino Serdarusic (Cro) 6-4, 6-2; Yu Hsiou Hsu (Tpe) bt Leo Borg (Swe) 6-2, 6-3.