Sumit Nagal, India's 26-year-old top-ranked singles player, put up a valiant fight on his Wimbledon debut but his Serbian opponent Miomir Kecmanovic proved to be too good on the day. In his maiden appearance at the All-England Championship, Nagal went down fighting in his Round 1 match that went on for 2 hours and 48 minutes. Kecmanovic won the clash 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the second round while Nagal's campaign ended in the first round itself.
After losing the first set following inconsistent play, Nagal came storming back into the game showing flashes of brilliance that saw him qualify for the Paris Olympics. The grass court may not be Nagal's biggest strength but still, he covered the court well in the second set and hit some of the shots quite confidently and cleanly to take the second set 6-3.
The return raised hopes of a comeback but Kecmanovic was just too good to nip it in the bud in the third set to take a 2-1 lead with a 6-3 win. Kecmanovic was inching closer to a win as he breezed past Nagal with a 5-1 lead but the World No 73 made another strong comeback to not let his Serbian opponent get across the line that easily. Nagal earned back three consecutive points to leave the scoreline 5-4 in Kecmanovic's favour in the fourth set, however, the latter finally scored on the fourth match point to get things done with.
Nagal was visibly struggling on the grass court and spoke about playing on the surface and the challenges of it as it may not be his biggest strength despite winning the Wimbledon Boys' doubles 9 years ago.
Nagal may have been knocked in the first round of the singles competition but he will also feature in the Men's Doubles competition alongside his Serbian partner Dusan Lajovic.
