India's highest ranked male tennis player in the men's singles category, Sumit Nagal lost to Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands in the first round to crash out of the ongoing US Open. Nagal went down fighting against a much higher ranked athlete in straight sets 6-1, 6-3, 7-6.
The opening set witnessed sheer dominance by the Dutch as he broke Nagal multiple times to take the win 6-1. Griekspoor, ranked 40th in the world, was in no mood to take his foot off the accelerator and kept the Indian on the backfoot. The second set saw a much-improved performance from Nagal but it wasn't enough to fend off Griekspoor as he managed to make it his own by 6-3.
Cognizant of an early exit, Nagal raised the bar in the third set and had two set points in the seven-point tie-breaker to win it and to remain alive in the contest. However, the Dutch landed a perfect ace to reduce the margin and then closed it out with sheer aplomb.
This was Nagal's third entry into the main draw at the US Open following his previous two stints in 2019 and 2020. The 27-year-old has had a forgettable season so far. He couldn't manage to go beyond the second round at the Australian Open and suffered first-round exits at the French Open and the Wimbledon Championships.
Nagal also met with disappointment at the Paris Olympics after he suffered a first-round exit following a loss at the hands of Frenchman Corentin Moutet. Nagal lost 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 to Moutet in the round of 64 and was shown the exit door.
Meanwhile, India's hopes at the US Open are still alive as Rohan Bopanna, Yuki Bhambri and N Sriram Balaji are still left to begin their respective campaigns in the men's doubles category alongside their respective partners.
