Indian tennis star Sumit Nagal bowed out of the ongoing US Open after suffering a straight-sets defeat to world number three Dominic Thiem in their second-round contest.
Indian tennis star Sumit Nagal on Thursday crashed out of the ongoing US Open after suffering straight-set defeat against world number three Dominic Thiem at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York.
Nagal lost to Thiem 3-6, 3-6, 2-6 in the second round. The 23-year-old had earlier become the first Indian to win a singles mains draw match in a Grand Slam since 2013 when he had defeated Bradley Klahn 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the opening round on Tuesday.
Nagal looked impressive in the first set as he levelled it after going 0-3 down. It brought back memories of him winning the first set against Roger Federer in last year’s US Open first round.
But Thiem, the birthday boy and second seed Austrian, did not let that happen and won the next three games back to back to win the opening set.
Thiem’s dominance continued as he broke Nagal at love to end the second set, and the Austrian’s momentum never slowed the rest of the way. Nagal fought through to the very end, but a volley that sailed long handed Thiem the victory.
“Thank you 2020 US Open. Lots to learn. Going to keep working hard! Thanks for all the support everyone,” said Nagal in a tweet after the defeat.
Throughout the contest that ran a little over two hours, Thiem converted on 6 of 14 breakpoint chances and finished with 30 winners while his Indian opponent scored 12 winners and committed 38 unforced errors.
“I think it’s going in the right direction,” Thiem said after the match. “It’s difficult to say where I stand, I’ve been playing a lot of exhibition matches while we were away, but it’s not the same as here, where it’s more serious. I would like to get back to where I was before we stopped playing.”
Thiem, the 2020 Australian Open finalist, will now face 2014 champion and No. 31 seed Marin Cilic.