NEW DELHI: Sumit Nagal, the accomplished Indian tennis player, put up a valiant fight before bowing out in the men's singles pre-quarterfinals of the Marrakech Open in Morocco on Wednesday.
Despite starting the match with a strong performance, the 95th-ranked Nagal succumbed to a 6-1, 3-6, 4-6 defeat against Lorenzo Sonego of Italy. Sonego, ranked 61st in the world, utilized his expertise and experience on clay courts to secure the victory.
Nagal gained attention earlier this year when he reached the main draw of the Australian Open in January. Notably, he became the first Indian to defeat a seeded player, Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan, before exiting in the second round against Shang Juncheng of China.
Following his success in the Australian Open, Nagal participated in various competitions, including the Chennai Open, two Challenger events, the ATP 500 Dubai Championship, and two ATP 1000 Masters tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami. Despite his efforts, Nagal has only managed to reach the semifinals once since his triumph in Chennai.
With his recent achievement, Nagal reached a career-best ranking of 95 earlier this week.
In other developments at the Marrakech Open, the Indian-French duo of Yuki Bhambri and Albano Olivetti secured a convincing 6-3, 6-4 victory over Bart Stevens of the Netherlands and Petros Tsitsipas of Greece in the pre-quarterfinals.
(With PTI Photo)
