India's Sumit Nagal put up a strong fight before going down in three sets to Serbian Vicktor Troicki in the men's singles opening round in the third edition of the Tata Open Maharashtra, in Pune, on Monday.
When the match began it was Federer who surprisingly looked intimidated under the Arthur Ashe Stadium lights as he sprayed errors all around the court but the Swiss great woke from his slumber in time to turn the match resoundingly in his favour.
India's singles tennis players will return empty-handed from the Asian Games for the first time since 2006.
Sumit Nagal immediately set his sights on Thiem who has reached two French Open finals, losing both to Nadal.
Nagal lost 6-4, 1-6, 2-6, 4-6 in a match that lasted two hours and 50 minutes in New York on Monday night to bow out after making his maiden Grand Slam main draw. The debut, at least in the opening set, was impressive as he stretched a "rusty" Federer, a five-time champion here with a career tally of 20 Slams.
India's number one tennis player Sumit Nagal is left with less than Rs one lakh in his bank account and a morose feeling of not leading a good life.
Nagal, who has played his best tennis this season, sent a confirmation to the All India Tennis Association (AITA) on Thursday night while Ramkumar had conveyed his availability a few days ago.
Counter-puncher Sumit Nagal blunted the challenge of big-serving Beibit Zhukayev with his perseverance while Ankita Raina outgunned Adithya P Karunaratne without fuss as the two Indians inched closer to singles medals.
'Disappointed to not get over the line today, but also very proud of the run I had.'
The 44-year-old Bopanna had also lost in the men's doubles in the third round when he and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden were beaten by the Argentine duo of Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni.
Sumit Nagal brought himself recognition after taking a set off Roger Federer in the opening round match of the US Open, which he eventually lost 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. However, Haryana lad said he has yet not been approached by any new sponsors.
Yuki Bhambri advanced to the men's singles second round after a hard-fought win over Moldovian Radu Albot in the US Open qualifiers in New York.
Bindra realistic after the Haryanvi takes a set off Federer in US Open first round.
An ecstatic Suresh Nagal was finding it difficult to express his delight in words after learning his son Sumit's triumph in the final of the Wimbledon's junior boys' doubles and dedicated the success to Mahesh Bhupathi, who has been a mentor for the 17-year-old.
A bullish Sumit Nagal says he has learnt to control his inner demons and is ready to cause "more damage" on the ATP circuit after a spirited show against Roger Federer on his Grand Slam debut.
Enduring a dismal season this year, defending champion Sumit Nagal Monday began his campaign at the USD 150,000 Bengaluru Open with a bang by defeating last year's finalist Briton's Jay Clarke in the opening round.
Ruthless Ruud topples Shapovalov to win Geneva Open.
Ramanathan, who is seeded 15th in the Qualifiers, lost 3-6, 4-6 to Italian Simone Bolleli, while 239th ranked Sumit Nagal, who is going through a rough patch, suffered his eighth straight first round defeat when he was thrashed 2-6, 0-6 by Poland's Kamil Majchrzak, ranked 192.
Sumit Nagal has been dropped from the five-member Indian Davis Cup team for the World Group 1 play-off tie against Denmark in New Delhi next month.
Sasikumar Mukund will aim for a winning return to the Davis Cup fold as India faces Togo in the World Group I Play-off.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
'I still have the exact budget which I had in 2018 when I was ranked 350. It's that when I needed the most which is right now, I see people turning around and walking away.'
India's first and only tennis medal in the history of Olympic Games came way back in 1996, when Leander Paes claimed the singles bronze in Atlanta.
Rohan Bopanna and Nicolas Barrientos bowed out of the Australian Open men's doubles with an opening-round loss to the Spanish team of Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar.
Nagal said he would look to play more ATP Tour events this year but for that he would have to first improve his rankings.
The All India Tennis Association claimed that Sumit Nagal demanded an annual fee of $50,000 to play Davis Cup ties for India.
Prajnesh Gunneswaran got a taste of high-level tennis in his first-round exit from the US Open, losing to world number five Daniil Medvedev in 84 minutes, in New York, on Monday.
Meanwhile, Sumit Nagal was trailing in his second round men's singles match against Holger Rune of Denmark, when rain led to a suspension of the contest.
Former Indian tennis captain Anand Amritraj has criticized top players Sumit Nagal and Yuki Bhambri for not playing in the Davis Cup, stating that money should not be a factor when representing the country.
Leaders across the political spectrum took to Twitter on Monday morning to extend congratulations to Leander Paes and Sumit Nagal.
Rohan Bopanna and Shuai Zhang suffered a narrow defeat against local wild cards John Peers and Olivia Gadecki in a thrilling contest at the Australian Open on Tuesday.
Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and his partner Vijay Sundar Prashanth clinched their maiden ATP title together, winning the Hangzhou Open men's doubles event, while Yuki Bhambri and his French partner Albano Olivetti finished runners-up at the Chengdu Open
Former Davis Cup captain Anand Amritraj is baffled that India's best singles players are not able to win close matches on the ATP World Tour despite having a decent game to back them.
'To win a medal, the players will have to play a couple of tough rounds. The draws are fine, and balanced and give us the opportunity to go deep.'
Rohan Bopanna and his partner Australia's Matthew Ebden were beaten by Argentine combo of Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni.
Sumit Nagal had impressed on his Davis Cup debut against Spain not so long ago but the youngster has been dropped from the team for the upcoming New Zealand tie due to serious breach of discipline, the All India Tennis Asssociation sources claimed on Tuesday.
Experienced Indian Rohan Bopanna and his Canadian partner Denis Shapovalo advanced to the second round of the US Open men's doubles event after a straight-set win in New York.
India's doubles specialist Rohan Bopanna, who failed to make the cut for the Tokyo Olympics along with Divij Sharan because of their low combined rank, on Monday accused All India Tennis Association (AITA) of misleading everyone by claiming it had changed the combination by pairing him with Sumit Nagal for a shot at qualification.
N Sriram Balaji was easily tamed by Elias Ymer, while Ramkumar Ramanathan went down to a lower-ranked Leo Borg as India were left trailing 0-2 against Sweden in the Davis Cup World Group I tie.
He said rather than think about what is stopping Indian players from making an impact in Grand Slams, the focus should be on doing well in the upcoming Davis Cup tie.
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