Sinner leads Italy to Davis Cup semifinals; Australia edges past USA
Defending champions Italy advanced to the Davis Cup semifinals on Thursday after defeating Argentina 2-1, with world No 1 Jannik Sinner winning the singles and doubles match.
After clinching the men’s singles title at the Buenos Aires ATP Challenger clay event, India’s Sumit Nagal has made a jump of 26 places to achieve a career-best ranking of 135.
On Sunday, Nagal beat Facundo Bagnis of Argentina 6-4, 6-2 in the final that lasted for just 37 minutes to claim his second Challenger title and move by 26 spots in the latest rankings issued by Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) on Monday. He had won his maiden title in 2017 at the Bengaluru Challenger event.
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Nagal, who entered Argentina ranked 161, had eased past World No. 108 Thiago Monteiro of Brazil 6-0, 6-1 in the semifinal.
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In the Round of 32, the 22-year-old had come from behind to defeat Brazilian Pedro Sakamoto 6-7, 6-4, 6-3. After that, he went past Jose Hernandez-Fernandez of Dominican Republic 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. In the quarterfinals, Nagal had defeated local Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to make it to the last four.
Earlier, this year, Nagal rose to fame after he went down fighting 6-4, 1-6, 2-6, 4-6 to Swiss legend Roger Federer in the US Open in August. He became the fourth Indian to win a set in the main draw of a Grand Slam in the last 20 years by virtue of taking a set off Federer.
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