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Sumit Nagal had also finished as a semifinalist in an event in Italy earlier this month.
Sumit Nagal is ranked 306. (PTI Photo)
Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal fell short of reaching his first Challenger-level final of the season, losing a hard-fought battle against Sasha Gueymard Wayenburg in the semifinals of the Tampere Open in Tampere on Saturday.
Ranked 306, Nagal was defeated 5-7, 2-6 by his French opponent, who is ranked 57 places below him, in the clay court event.
At 5-5, 15-all, Wayenburg hit a forehand wide and long, followed by another forehand error, giving Nagal two breakpoints.
Wayenburg responded by hitting deep into the corners, opening up the court for winners. He saved the first breakpoint with an overhead smash while Nagal made an unforced error, wasting the second chance.
The Frenchman eventually held his serve, forcing Nagal to serve to push the opening set to a tie-breaker. However, Nagal netted a backhand return, giving Wayenburg his first set point. Nagal saved it with a forehand winner on his opponent’s right flank.
Wayenburg outwitted Nagal on the next point, leaving him wrong-footed and smashing a backhand winner to earn another set point. He secured the set with an overhead smash, pushing Nagal to the back of the court with deep hitting on both flanks.
In the second set, Nagal had a chance to take the lead with breakpoints in the first game but could not capitalise. To make matters worse, he was down a breakpoint after hitting a backhand long at 30-all in the next game.
Wayenburg did not miss the opportunity and took a 2-0 lead. The French player played smartly, often charging to the net to smash easy winners, quickly advancing to a 3-0 lead.
From that point, it was one-way traffic.
Nagal equalled his best performance of the 2025 season, having reached the semifinals of an event in Italy earlier this month.
With PTI Inputs
Feroz Khan has been covering sports for over 12 years now and is currently working with Network18 as Principal Correspondent. He embarked on his journey in 2011 and has since acquired vast experience in digital…Read More
Feroz Khan has been covering sports for over 12 years now and is currently working with Network18 as Principal Correspondent. He embarked on his journey in 2011 and has since acquired vast experience in digital… Read More
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Tampere (Finland)
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