Tokyo Olympics: Sumit Nagal storms into second round of men's tennis event

Sumit Nagal beat Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 to win his first match of Tokyo Olympics 2020 on Saturday.

Sumit Nagal bowed out of the Tokyo Olympics 2020; Credit: Twitter/ @AITA__Tennis
By Sreejith C R | Jul 24, 2021 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Sumit Nagal began Indian representation in tennis with a 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 win against Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin. Nagal is appearing in his first ever Olympics and started brightly by winning the opening game.

Although, it must be noted that till the eighth game both athletes were neck-and-neck before Nagal took the ninth game.

Meanwhile both the players missed multiple breakpoint opportunities in the ninth game before Nagal went ahead and went on to win the first set.

Even Though Istomin fought back to take a tight second set, Nagal maintained his composure to win the third set. Thus, he became the first Indian to win a men’s singles match in Tennis at Olympics after Leander Paes.

Sumit Nagal fights hard

Nagal broke early in the second set to go 2-0 up, Istomin broke back immediately to keep the 2nd set on serve.

Although Nagal broke away again to take a lead of 5-2, the Uzbek made a gritty comeback to level at 6-6 and win the second set 7-6. Tennis is all about momentum and Istomin seems to have got it.

The 197th ranked Uzbek who has previously beaten Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open has a never say die attitude.

The match was going down the wire and Istomin took the first game of the third set. Suddenly Nagal seemed to be in trouble.

Nagal was put under a bit of pressure but the Indian won the second game and didn’t allow his opponent to break away. The 25-year-old Indian was playing a catching up game as he leveled at 4-4 in the 8th game.

The Indian then earned a breakpoint out of nowhere in the next game and went on to serve for the match. Even though Nagal couldn’t serve to victory, in the end he managed to cross the line.