Melbourne (Australia): Chinese tennis sensation Juncheng Shang on Thursday ended Sumit Nagal's impressive campaign run at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year.
Nagal, who clinched his first fixture against top-seeded Kazakhstan's Alexander Bulbik, dominated the first set in his second-round clash, putting his wild card entrant rival under pressure. He won it by 6-2. But, as the game progressed, Juncheng made a splendid comeback, finishing as the winner with a 2-6 6-3 7-5 6-4 scoreline.
Shang gained confidence from the second set and started to serve well from the next set onwards, winning his service games despite being troubled by high backhand balls in the match.
-
A tale of triumph and resilience at the Australian Open...🎾
— All India Tennis Association (@AITA__Tennis) January 18, 2024 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
Sumit Nagal's historic win in Round 1 reverberates, shaping a memorable journey. The hard-fought Round 2 match against J.C. Shang may have ended differently, but Nagal's spirit remains unwavering❤️💪 @AustralianOpen pic.twitter.com/c5E1xtRZut
">A tale of triumph and resilience at the Australian Open...🎾
— All India Tennis Association (@AITA__Tennis) January 18, 2024
Sumit Nagal's historic win in Round 1 reverberates, shaping a memorable journey. The hard-fought Round 2 match against J.C. Shang may have ended differently, but Nagal's spirit remains unwavering❤️💪 @AustralianOpen pic.twitter.com/c5E1xtRZutA tale of triumph and resilience at the Australian Open...🎾
— All India Tennis Association (@AITA__Tennis) January 18, 2024
Sumit Nagal's historic win in Round 1 reverberates, shaping a memorable journey. The hard-fought Round 2 match against J.C. Shang may have ended differently, but Nagal's spirit remains unwavering❤️💪 @AustralianOpen pic.twitter.com/c5E1xtRZut
Nevertheless, the 26-year-old Nagal, who hails from Jhajjar in Haryana, will make his way out from Melbourne Park with fond memories, becoming the only first Indian since 1989 to conquer a seeded player at a Grand Slam, defeating Bublik (world number 27) in straight sets, a triumph echoing Ramesh Krishnan's legacy.
With this defeat in the second round, Nagal will take home AUD 180,000 (nearly Rs 98 lakh) for his exceptional effort in the elite tournament. The money should take care of most of his 2024 Tour budget.
Nagal got the Chinese engaged in the baseline fight from the beginning and drew the first blood in the very first game of the match. It was a passing forehand winner from Nagal that helped set up the first break point and then a lucky net chord handed him his second chance which he converted with the Chinese making a backhand error.
Shang tried to raise his intensity and power in his strokes to break the shackles but Nagal was fired up and his aggressive shots didn’t allow his competitor to make a comeback and succeeded in opening up a 3-1 lead with consecutive holds.
But then, after being 0-30 down in game five, the Chinese understood what was working for him and pulled himself out of the hole by serving well. A small error from the wild card entrant gave Nagal an opportunity to take a 5-2 lead but the Chinese saved that with a drop shot.
Shang saved two more chances in a slugfest that saw six deuce points but a double fault gave Nagal his fourth breakpoint. Shang's 17th unforced error of the match -- a wide backhand -- resulted in another break and it allowed the Indian to serve out the opening set in the next game.
However, once Shang got back his rhythm, he started to make an impact and was aggressive in the second set and was eyeing to put Nagal under pressure but failed to convert the two break points in the second game. He cut down on his errors, served well and the court coverage also improved and in no time, he was leading 5-2 with two breaks.
Coming out to serve to stay in the set, Nagal began with an unforced error but managed to hold on. Shang was still struggling against the high backhand balls, but closed the second set in his favour with a powerful forehand, which Nagal could not return.
The third set was a tighter affair with no break of serve until Shang cashed in on a flurry of backhand errors by Nagal at 5-5. At 15-all, Nagal buried a backhand on net and then netted one more to be down by two break points. Nagal saved both but handed another chance to the Chinese, who converted with a screaming down-the-line forehand winner. Shang served out the set with an excellent serve.
As the match wore on, Shang's serve became better and better, hardly conceding points on his serve, putting pressure back on the Indian. Nagal, who was feeling the heat, had his back to the wall after he lost serve at 3-3. The Chinese served out the set and match without fuss.
- " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="">
Read More
