China Open 2024: Sumit Nagal crashes out after losing to Pavel Kotov in qualifiers

India’s No.1 tennis star Sumit Nagal failed to make his way through to the main draw of the China Open 2024. On Tuesday, September 24, the World No. 83 lost 2-6, 6-7 (5-7) to Pavel Kotov of Russia. It was also the first meeting between the two players on the ATP tour.

Kotov, meanwhile, advanced to the second round of the qualifiers in the ATP 500 event in Beijing, where he will face the winner of the match between Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena and China’s Rigele Te.

Against Kotov, Nagal found it tough to get going right from the outset. Kotov converted all three breakpoint chances that he got in the opening set. Nagal broke his opponent’s serve once but was far from his best.

Nagal struggled with his serves, winning only 44 percent points (seven out of 16) from his first serves. He was not up to the mark with his second serves as well, winning only two out of six points.

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Sumit Nagal goes down fighting in the China Open

Nagal was far more competitive in the second set than in the first. He dropped his serve once but broke Kotov’s serve to force a tie-breaker. At 5-5 in the tie-break, Nagal gave himself a chance to take the match into the deciding set.

But then he faltered and could not go past the finish line. Overall, Kotov made 43 unforced errors, six more than Nagal. But the fact that he pulled off 21 winners turned out to be crucial in the context of the match.

Nagal has had his troubles of late after a back injury forced him out of the Japan Open. The Indian also crashed out of the US Open men’s singles in August and pulled out of the men’s doubles at Flushing Meadows.

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