New Delhi, Feb 19: India’s top tennis player Sumit Nagal was knocked out of the ATP Delhi Open after losing to sixth seed Federico Cina of Italy in the second round, here on Thursday.
In the doubles draw, top seeds Siddhant Banthia (India) and Alexander Donski (Bulgaria) advanced to the quarterfinals.
Cina, an 18-year-old ranked No. 225 in the world, broke Nagal in the opening game and maintained the advantage to take the first set 6-4. The Italian then raced to a 5-1 lead in the second set and looked set to cruise into the last eight.
However, Nagal, ranked No. 297, saved three match points in the seventh game and cut the deficit to 5-4. Cina stayed composed and held serve in the 10th game to seal a 6-4, 6-4 win in one hour and 40 minutes.
Third seed Jay Clarke and fifth seed Oliver Crawford, both from Great Britain, and eighth seed Rio Noguchi of Japan, won their matches in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals.
Second seed Rei Sakamoto of Japan came from 3-0 down in the final set to score a 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over Great Britain’s Alastair Gray, while seventh seed Daniel Michalski of Poland was upset by Belgium’s Michael Geerts 7-6(8), 6-4.
In the doubles draw, the top-seeded duo of Banthia and Donski advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Francis Casey Alcantara and Courtney John Lock.
Also reaching the last eight was the Indian wildcard pairing of Divij Sharan and Karan Singh, who defeated Bulgaria’s Dimitar Kuzmanov and Kazakhstan’s Denis Yevseyev 7-6(5), 6-4.
Somdev Devvarman remains the only home singles’ champion in the tournament’s history, having won back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015.
There also have been all-Indian doubles champions twice in the past, with Saketh Myneni-Sanam Singh and Yuki Bhambri-Mahesh Bhupathi lifting the trophy in 2015 and 2016 respectively. (PTI)
