New Delhi: India’s campaign suffered a big hit after top tennis player Sumit Nagal was knocked out of the ATP Delhi Open after losing to sixth seed Federico
Cina of Italy in the second round. Meanwhile in the doubles draw, top seeds Siddhant Banthia (India) and Alexander Donski (Bulgaria) advanced to the quarterfinals.
Then 18-year-old and 225 ranked player in the world Cina, broke Nagal in the opening game and maintained the advantage to take the first set 6-4. The Italian then raced to a 5-1 lead in the second set gaining full dominance and cruising into the last-eight. Nagla, however, saved three match points in the seventh game, cutting the deficit to 5-4.
Nagal bows out in straight sets
But it was Cina who stayed composed and held the serve in the 10th game to confirm a 6-4, 6-4 win in one hour and 40 minutes.
‘Nagal is someone who (has) played in the main draw of the Grand Slams. So for sure I am very happy about this win,’ Cina said after the win.
‘He is a tough player. He was also playing at home so it was difficult. But I am very happy to win this match. It was tough because he was 5-4 and then also the crowd was like getting excited. It was tough, but I served good in the last game in the end.’
In some other results, third seed Jay Clarke and fifth seed Oliver Crawford from Great Britain and Rio Noguchi of Japan bagged victories in their matches in the straight sets to storm into the quarterfinals. In the doubles draw, the top-seeded duo of Banthia and Donski advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Francis Casey Alcantara and Courtney John Lock.
Somdev Devvarman remains the only home singles’ champion in the tournament’s history, having won back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015.
(With PTI inputs)
