India’s ace tennis player loses to France’s Corentin Moutet
Paris, July 28: Sumit Nagal stuck to his strong baseline game but that didn’t seem to be enough against a mercurial Frenchman Corentin Moutet, who knocked out the Indian from the Paris Olympics with a stylish three-set win, here Sunday.
In his second appearance at the Olympic Games, Nagal bounced back after losing the first set but fell 2-6 6-4 5-7 in two hours and 28 minutes at a packed court number seven at Roland Garros.
In the Tokyo Games, Nagal had lost in the second round to Russian Daniil Medvedev but he could not make the most of a manageable opener here.
It has always been a battle of attrition between Nagal and Moutet with three of their last four outings being three-set affairs and it was no different on Sunday.
Nagal had got the better of Moutet in their last meeting in Grand Prix of Hassan in the Moroccan city of Marakkech in April this year.
Nagal didn’t seem to have a plan B but Moutet had a few tricks in his bag to unsettle his rival. He served underarm a number of times and used the drop shots, the forehand slice and the backhand slice very effectively.
The chants of Coco-Coco, Aaale-Aaale and Moutet-Moutet certainly gave the home player the energy required in such a slug-fest.
Nagal had a nervy start with a boisterous crowd behind Moutet. A drop volley error at 30-all put him down by a break point. Another unforced error cost him the opening game.
The French player began with an underarm serve, much to the amusement of the home fans. He, however, ended up serving a double fault. It was an easy hold for the southpaw even as Nagal also bounced back with a hold at love.Moutet struggled a bit with his first serve but fed Nagal a lot of high balls and attached his backhand more to build on the break.
Nagal had his chances to get the break back in game four but squandered four break points.
He was down by another break point in game five but saved and held when Moutet just missed the line with his return. The crowd favourite again amused the gathered supporters as he crossed over the court to check the spot if the ball landed inside the line.
It was crucial for Nagal to hold serve after falling behind 2-4 but he erred on overhead volley at breakpoint.Moutet pocketed the opening set when Nagal’a forehand return soared over the baseline.The second set was not a one-way traffic with Nagal finding his rhythm. The free points were not given. (PTI)