Bengaluru, Feb 16 India’s Sumit Nagal stayed on course for a back-to-back ATP Challenger crown as he got the better of Adam Walton in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the Bengaluru Open 2024 being played at the KSLTA Tennis Stadium here on Friday.
The second-seeded Indian star, who broke into the world top-100 after a title triumph in Chennai last week, was tested by Walton in the opening set but kept his composure under pressure to register a 7-5, 6-2 win and set up a semifinal clash against 7th seed Stephano Napolitano of Italy. Napolitano defeated Tunisia’s Moez Echargui 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 in the other quarterfinal.
However, it was heartbreak for another Indian in the draw, Ramkumar Ramanathan, as he went down against 9th seed Seongchan Hong of South Korea after a hard-fought three-set encounter. Ramkumar had fought back from a set down to force a decider but Hong proved a bit strong for the Indian in the business end of the third seed and won the match 7-5, 5-7, 6-4. The South Korean will now face Oriol Roca Batalla of Spain for a spot in the final.
But Nagal gave the local crowd, which had waited till late in the evening to see him in action, a lot to cheer for. The 26-year-old looked comfortable at the start of the match as he opened up a 4-1 lead before Walton staged a fightback.
However, Nagal relied on his groundstrokes to pocket the set 7-5. The second set was a lot smoother affair as the Indian broke his opponent twice to wrap the match in 2 hours and six minutes.
“It was really tight first set, but I felt like the longer I played the match it went better. But hats off to Adam for playing such a high-level match. Tennis is all about small margins and I felt like I played those margins very well today. I went for my shot and I was the one who was dictating the points,” said Nagal after the match.
On his semifinal against Napolitano, Nagal said, “I have played with him years ago. But he's playing good tennis and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's match.”
Results:
Singles: 7-Stephano Napolitano (Ita) bt Moez Echargui (Tun) 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4; 8-Oriol Roca Batalla (Esp) bt Maks Kasnikowski (Pol) 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-5; 9-Seongchan Hong (Kor) bt Ramkumar Ramanathan (Ind) 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.
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