India’s top-ranked Sumit Nagal’s singles campaign came to an end after suffering an early first-round exit following his loss against Miomir Kecmanovic. This was his debut appearance in the main draw of Wimbledon where he failed to emerge victorious. The Indian player lost to Kecmanovic 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 in a match that lasted for 2 hours and 38 minutes. Nagal who is India‘s top-ranked player having made it to Wimbledon was hit with the inexperience of playing on a grass court.
Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam played on Grass court and thus competing and Winning in Wimbledon is a treasured possession. Sumit failed to overcome his inexperience of playing in big events and was caught wanting, making small errors that eventually cost him the game.
Flashes of Brilliance, just not enough
Going down in four sets to Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, Sumit Nagal committed 44 unforced errors in the match that resulted in his first-round exit from Wimbledon 2024. Nagal who is ranked 72 did show flashes of brilliance as he hit 47 winners but overall struggled on the grass court. In the end, he could manage 104 points against Kecmanovic's 122. The 53rd-ranked Serbian fired six aces and only conceded two double faults.
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The nemesis of Kecmanovic
This was Kecmanovic's second win in two matches against Nagal. He beat the 26-year-old Indian at the ATP 250 event in Cologne, Germany, four years ago. Sumit Nagal is the first Indian in five years to play a Wimbledon men's singles main draw match. Prajnesh Gunneswaran had made a first-round exit in 2019. Nagal will also represent India further in The Paris Olympics 2024.
Lessons Learned, dream run halted as Paris Olympics is around the corner
Before this loss Nagal was having a dream season as he had also qualified for the main draw of the Australian Open earlier this year. Nagal gave his all in Melbourne having stunned 31st-seeded Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the opening round to become the first Indian male tennis player to beat a seeded player in 35 years in a Slam. He had also qualified for the main draw of the Indian Wells Masters and Monte-Carlo Masters, the ATP 1000 events. The young star also won two Challenger events this season the Heilbronn Challenger and the Chennai Open ATP Challenger.
Nagal’s Single campaign is over but he will be fighting hard to regain glory in the men’s doubles event partnering Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic. The pair of Nagal-Dusan will be up against Pedro Martinez and Jaume of Spain in their opening game.
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