Sumit Nagal reached his first ATP Challenger Tour ultimate in nearly 4 years in Rome on Saturday.
World No. 347 Nagal, who needed to qualify for the primary draw within the Italian capital, got here from a set all the way down to win 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 towards Belgium’s Joris De Loore, World No. 198, in two hours 35 minutes to achieve his first ultimate since lifting his second title in Buenos Aires in 2019. He gained his maiden title in Bengaluru in 2017.
The 25-year-old Indian, who has a career-high rating of 122, will face Dutchman Jesper De Jong within the summit conflict. De Jong, World No. 234, beat native participant Flavio Cobolli 7-5, 6-3 within the second semifinal.
Jhajjar-born Nagal is the primary Indian man to achieve a Challenger Tour ultimate since Prajnesh Gunneswaran (Monterrey, 2022) and appears to develop into the primary since Ramkumar Ramanathan (Manama, 2021) to win a event.
Nagal, who trains beneath former India No. 1 Somdev Devvarrman, suffered from a hip harm late in 2021 and was out of motion for 5 months. By October final 12 months, he was ranked as little as 638.
However, having reached not less than the second spherical in 4 of the 9 Challengers he has performed in 2023 along with his finest outcome coming in Rome, Nagal is about to re-enter the highest 300 as per stay ATP Rankings.
Nagal’s run to the ultimate in Rome
- ⦿
Semifinal – Won 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 towards Joris De Loore (Belgium) - ⦿
Quarterfinal – Won 7-5, 6-0 towards Max Houkes (Netherlands) - ⦿
Round of 16 – Won 6-3, 6-0 towards Fausto Tabacco (Italy) - ⦿
Round of 32 – Won 6-2, 6-4 towards Francesco Maestrelli (Italy) - ⦿
Final Qualifying Round – Won 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 towards Viktor Durasovic (Norway) - ⦿
First Qualifying Round – Won 6-4, 6-1 towards Jacopo Berrettini (Italy)
Remaining Tennis Results Around The World
$160,000 Challenger, Seoul, Korea
Doubles (semifinals): Yunseong Chung (Kor) & Yuta Shimizu (Jpn) bt Arjun Kadhe & Purav Raja 1-6, 6-1, [10-5].
€73,000 Challenger, Rome, Italy
Singles (semifinals): Sumit Nagal bt Joris De Loore (Bel) 2-6, 7-5, 6-4.
$25,000 ITF males, Jakarta, Indonesia
Singles (semifinals): Yanki Erel (Tur) bt Digvijay Pratap Singh 6-3, 6-2.
Doubles (ultimate): Matthew Romios & Brandon Daly Walkin (Aus) bt Ray Ho (Tpe) & Parikshit Somani 7-5, 6-4.
$60,000 ITF girls, Charlottesville, USA
Doubles (semifinals): Sophie Chang (USA) & Yuan Yue (Chn) bt Jessy Rompies (Ina) & Prarthana Thombare 6-3, 6-4.
$40,000 ITF girls, Calvi, France
Doubles (ultimate): Naiktha Bains & Maia Lumsden (GBR) bt Estelle Cascino (Fra) & Ankita Raina 6-4, 3-6, [10-7].
$25,000 ITF girls, Nottingham, Britain
Singles (semifinals): Arina Rodionova (Aus) bt Rutuja Bhosale 6-1, 6-1.
Doubles (semifinals): Rutuja Bhosale & Arianne Hartono (Ned) bt Elena Malygina (Est) & Katarina Stresnakova (Svk) 6-4, 6-1.
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com