Sumit Nagal kept the Indian hopes alive in the Bengaluru Open 2023 with an intensely-fought 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-4 win over Ly Nam Hoang of Vietnam in the Round of 32 at the KSLTA Stadium on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, two other Indians in action–Prajnesh Gunneswaran and SD Prajwal crashed out of the Round of 32.
Prajnesh had his moments against Serbian Hamad Medjedovic but the latter was way better in the crucial moments, emerging a 6-3, 6-4 winner. Karnataka lad Prajwal could not counter Taipei’s Jason Jung and bowed out after a 2-6, 2-6 defeat.
Nagal made up for those disappointments to a certain extent, getting better of a sticky Nam Hoang. The first set drifted into tie-break after both the players traded a couple of breaks in the early part.
The Indian came up with a solid game in the tie-break to build a 6-3 lead and then grabbed the set. Nam Hoang produced a grittier show in the second set winning it 7-5.
Nagal and Nam Hoang again traded breaks in the third set but the Indian managed to hold his nerve in the 10th game to earn the decisive break, closing out the match.
Earlier, Max Purcell, who had won the title in Chennai a couple of days ago, provided a shock result on the day when he dumped No. 4 seed Sebastian Ofner of Austria in a tight three-set contest 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-3.
However, it was the end of the road for Leo Borg, son of legendary Bjorn Borg, as he lost to Yu Hsiou Hsu 2-6, 3-6.