India's Sumit Nagal received a masterclass from Roger Federer after a first-set stunner. No wonder he is on cloud nine following an impressive Grand Slam debut where he stretched the legend to four sets in the opening round of US Open.
Nagal won the first set 6-4 before Federer upped the ante, winning 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-4 against the 190th ranked Indian.
"It felt amazing, could not have asked for a better match up on my debut Slam and on one of the biggest tennis courts I guess," the 22-year-old Nagal said from New York on Tuesday.
While the capacity crowd at the Arthur Ashe Stadium were rooting for Federer, by the end of two and half hours, Nagal was seen enjoying a bit of fan following as he was asked for autographs and selfies while leaving the arena.
"The crowd was amazing. I enjoyed every moment out there," said Nagal, who came through the qualifying rounds.
On a learning curve, a match against Federer is stuff that dreams are made of, and Nagal is taking away a lot of positives in defeat.
"I learnt a lot from him last night. How to carry yourself, how to control emotions , mixing it (strokes) up," the youngster said.
