Gutsy Sumit Nagal bows out despite winning first set against Roger Federer
India's Sumit Nagal started brightly but couldn't carry on the momentum against a player of Roger Federer's class in the opening round of the US Open at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The Swiss prevailed over the Indian 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in the end in a match that had a fair share of ups and downs for the third-seeded Federer.
Nagal walked in confident and pumped, knowing that he has a task at hand and he stuck at it right from the word go. Nagal was determined in the first set and despite being 0-2 down, he took the first set 6-4 to send shock waves around the stadium. In the process, he became the first Indian to take a set off Federer.
However, Nagal's determination fizzled away quick as Federer took charge and cruised past the Indian in the second set as an array of unforced errors and double fault cost the 22-year-old.
The next two sets were all Federer and as he walked past Nagal as he didn't exist but the Indian made a strong comeback in the last set and was 3 breakpoints up at one point and could have levelled it 5-5 but Federer rallied past him with some precise serving and fine finishing to go through to the second round.
There were plenty of jokes in Flushing Meadows about Federer facing an opponent whose name sounded so close to longtime rival Rafael Nadal's, but Federer wasn't laughing when the 190th-ranked qualifier from India took the first set.
"It was a tough first set for me. However, credit to him for playing a solid first set. I was a bit rusty in the match," Federer said after the match.
But in the end, Federer despite not being at his best, avoided losing in the first round of a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2003 French Open. He will face Bosnia's Damir Dzumhur in the next round.
