Sumit Nagal wins a set against World No.7 Holger Rune; faces defeat in a hard-fought three-set match in Monte-Carlo Masters 2024
India’s number-one ranked tennis star Sumit Nagal achieved a big feat after breaking World no.7 Holger Rune in the second set to get into the deciding third set in the second round of the main draw at Monte-Carlo Masters 2024.
Regrettably, Sumit Nagal had to face a defeat in the hard-fought three-set encounter with a scoreline of 3-6, 6-3 and 2-6. Rune will next take on the world no.9 player Grigor Dimitrov in the pre-quarter-final clash.
Moving into the details of the Nagal’s clash, Holger Rune rarely lost his concentration after winning the toss. He bagged two aces in a row to secure the first game. However, Sumit Nagal made the scores level as both players kept the serve.
Both the players went on to hold the serve till 3-3. However, Rune broke Nagal's serve to make it 5-3 with one game to win. Eventually, in the first set, he held the serve to make it 6-3 in his favor.
Sumit Nagal beats Holger Rune in the second set
Interestingly, in the second set, the Dane looked to finish off the match, securing a 2-0 lead. However, Nagal held his serve to make it 1-2. Interestingly, he went on to break Rune's serve to make it level at 2-2.
After producing some excellent strokes, Nagal clinched the second set with a scoreline of 6-3, pushing the game to the third set. Though Nagal started off well in the third set, the world no.7 Rune looked in exceptional touch, breaking the opposition’s serve in the deciding set to eventually win the match by 2-1.
Taking a set off the Dane is a big task achieved by the Indian tennis sensation and with the defeat in this encounter, Sumit Nagal had to make an exit from the Monte-Carlo Masters 2024 campaign.
Earlier in the first round of the main draw, Sumit secured a win over world no.38 Matteo Arnaldi from Italy with a scoreline of 5-7, 6-2, and 6-4. Notably, Sumit became the third Indian player to secure a spot in the main draw at the Monte-Carlo Masters after Vijay Amritraj (1977) and Ramesh Krishnan (1982).