Tokyo: India’s challenge in tennis at the Tokyo Olympics ended on Monday as Sumit Nagal bowed out of the men’s singles competition losing in straight sets to World No.2 Daniil Medvedev. The Russian, who is playing under ROC tag, did not even need his ‘A’ game as he cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win in just 66 minutes against 160th ranked Nagal at the Ariake Tennis Centre.
Nagal earned a name when he scored a set over Swiss great Roger Federer at the 2019 US Open on his Grand Slam debut. The Indian started dropping a serve in the very first game of the match when a netted a backhand. Although Nagal hit few winners, Medvedev’s powerful strokes from the baseline were strong enough to do the job.
Medvedev will next face Italian Fabio Fogbnini in the third round. Earlier, Nagal defeated Uzbekistan Denis Istomin for India’s first men’s singles win at Olympics in 25 years. Sania Mirza and Ankita Raina were knocked out of the women’s doubles first round after dominating the contest on Sunday.
