CHENNAI: Sumit Nagal's purple patch continued as he brushed past Italy's Giovanni Fonio in straight sets 7-5, 6-2 to qualify for the quarterfinals of the ATP Chennai Open Challenger at the SDAT Tennis Stadium here on Wednesday. Nagal and Fonio held their respective serves till the ninth game of the opening set. From there, things started to fall apart for Fonio, as he managed to win only two games a s the Indian ran away with the match.
In the first few games, Fonio made Nagal work for his points. The Indian struck a few poor service returns at the start, making it easy for the Italian to hold. The Italian played to his strengths and relied on one-handed backhands. He succeeded by constantly finding the angles and attacking the lines. However, the 10th game changed the complexion of the match as Nagal broke Fonio for the first time. Ranked 270th, Fonio committed four unforced errors, three being back to-back. The momentum shifted completely in Nagal's favour and the Indian made use of it. Fonio started losing composure hitting the balls wide.
