Sumit Nagal makes India proud, shocks World No.22 in Argentina Open 2021 quarter-final

Sumit Nagal on Thursday registered arguably his biggest career win when he beat World No. 22 Cristian Garin in straight sets at the Argentina Open 2021. Nagal beat the Chilean 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 43 minutes. This win helped Nagal progress to the quarter-finals where he will face World No. 42 Albert Ramos Viñolas.

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Sumit Nagal records biggest career win

Despite the Sumit Nagal ranking being 150, the Indian is on fire at the Argentina Open 2021 as he recorded his first-ever win over a Top 50 player when he beat second seed, Cristian Garin. Although both Nagal and Garin had similar numbers on their first serves, Nagal did a better job on his second service. Nagal managed to win 10 of 18 points on the second service while Garin managed to win just seven of 22 points on his second service. As a result, Nagal did a better job in capitalising on break point opportunities as he won seven of 19 break points while Garin just converted four of his seven break point opportunities.

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Sumit Nagal's learning after facing Roger Federer

While the win against Cristian Garin was Sumit Nagal's best career win, perhaps the Indian's best performance was against Roger Federer at the US Open in 2019. Nagal almost gave a scare of an upset against Federer after he took the first set. However, just like all the greats of tennis do, Federer managed to find his way back and beat Nagal convincingly in the end with a scoreline of 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.

Before making his debut at the Australian Open this year, Nagal highlighted what he learnt from the greats of tennis. "What I learnt from him (Roger Federer) is how he understands himself and how he reads the game. He'll never make the same mistake twice. He's that good, said Nagal.

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When asked about Thiem, Nagal said, "He's got a really solid backhand. He's serving very smart, and good forehand, and he's moving great and his intensity is very very high. That's what I would love to have in my game. That is what I am trying to work on." Indeed, it seems that Nagal's game has significantly improved after playing the greats of tennis as he showed glimpses of such a performance against Cristian Garin. Fans can watch Sumit Nagal live in India on the EuroSport channel.

Sania Mirza makes winning WTA return

Meanwhile, earlier this week Indian tennis star Sania Mirza also made a winning return to the WTA circuit as she progressed to the semi-finals of the Qatar Open alongside her partner Andreja Klepac. The Indo-Slovenian pair defeated the pairing of Gabriela Dabrowski and Anna Blinkova in straight sets. They will now face Demi Schuurs and Nicole Melichar in the semi-finals of the Qatar Open at 5 PM IST on Thursday, March 4.

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