Prague Open
By Saurabh Singh
India’s Sumit Nagal, world rank 127 (Singles), Divij Sharan, second highest ranked Indian in the world (56th in Doubles), and N Sriram Balaji (143rd in Doubles) have bowed out at the quarter-finals stage of Prague Open 2020.
23-year-old Nagal, who participated in both Singles and Doubles category, could not manage to reach the last four in either.
India's Sumit Nagal gave a mighty scare to three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka by taking off the first set but then wilted under pressure to bow out of the Prague Open in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
The 23-year-old Indian bagged the first set 6-2 in stunning fashion after breaking the Swiss heavyweight's serve to raise hopes of an upset win.
But it was not to be as the Indian, ranked 127, was overpowered by the World 17 Wawrinka who won the next two sets 6-0, 6-1 to pocket the match that lasted one hour and 19 minutes and advance to the semifinals.
India's top singles player Sumit Nagal set up the Prague Open quarter-final clash against three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka following a come-from-behind win over lower-ranked Jiri Lehecka
Sixth seed and world number 127 Nagal had to battle hard to win 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3 in the two-hour and 21-minute second round contest against the local player, ranked 617.
Nagal, who played against Roger Federer at US Open last year, will test his game against the Swiss, who also rallied to beat Germany’s Oscar Otte.