Sumit Nagal hailing from Haryana, India, while making his US Open main draw debut, gave a spirited performance before going down against tennis great Roger Federer 6-4, 1-6, 2-6, 4-6 at the Arthur Ashe stadium in New York.
World No. 190 Nagal trailed by 0-2, but got back on serve when Federer double-faulted down breakpoint in the third game. Nagal then took advantage of a slew of Federer misses to break him and go up 5-4. Federer got only 48 percent of his first serves in and had three doubles faults. He had 19 unforced errors.
Asia’s 2022 World Cup qualifiers drawn
Nagal is one of four other Indian players who have qualified for the main draw of a Grand Slam in singles. The others are Gunneswaran, Saketh Myneni, Yuki Bhambri and Somdev Devvarman. While Nagal faces a colossal task in facing five-time champion Federer, Gunneswaran faces 253-ranked German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe.
