Tennis: Sumit Nagal Goes Down Fighting Against Stanislas Wawrinka in Prague Open Quarterfinals

India’s Sumit Nagal gave a mighty scare to three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka by taking off the first set but then wilted under pressure to bow out of the Prague Open in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Nagal, ranked 127 in the men’s singles rankings, won the first set 6-2 but lost the next two sets 0-6 and 1-6, bringing an end to his run in the Challenger level tournament.

The 23-year-old Indian surprised everyone by winning the first set in stunning fashion after breaking the Swiss heavyweight’s serve twice to raise hopes of an upset win. But it was not to be as the Indian was overpowered by Wawrinka who won the next two sets 6-0, 6-1 to pocket the match that lasted one hour and 19 minutes and advance to the semifinals.

Wawrinka, who is currently ranked 17th in the world, seemed rusty to begin with in the last eight clash. However, the Swiss ace player soon found his rhythm and was able to take 12 of the remaining 13 games.

Nagal had also taken a set off another Swiss star and multiple Grand Slam winner Roger Federer in the US Open last year before losing the match.

Earlier, Nagal advanced to the singles quarterfinals of the Prague Open with a hard-fought victory over lower-ranked Kiri Lehecka. India’s top singles player Nagal prevailed 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3 in two hours and 21 minutes in the second round contest of the 137,560 euro clay-court event.