India’s Sumit Nagal stayed on course for a back-to-back ATP Challenger crown as he got the better of Adam Walton in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the DafaNews Bengaluru Open 2024 being played at the KSLTA Tennis Stadium here on Friday.
The second Indian, who broke into the world top-100 after a title triumph in Chennai last week, was tested by Walton in the opening set but kept his composure under pressure to register a 7-5, 6-2 win and set up a semi-final clash against 7th seed Stephano Napolitano of Italy.
Napolitano defeated Tunisia’s Moez Echargui 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 in the other quarterfinal. However, it was heartbreak for another Indian as Ramkumar Ramanathan lost a closely-fought quarterfinal in three sets. Ramanathan lost 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 against 9th seed Seongchan Hong of South Korea.
But Nagal gave the local crowd, which had waited till late in the evening to see him in action, something to cheer for. The 26-year-old looked comfortable at the start of the match as he opened up a 4-1 lead before Walton staged a fightback.
However, Nagal relied on his groundstrokes to pocket the set 7-5. The second set was a smoother affair as the Indian broke his opponent twice to wrap the match in 2 hours and six minutes.
“It was really tight first set, but I felt like the longer I played the match it went better. But hats off to Adam for playing such a high-level match. Tennis is all about small margins and I felt like I played those margins very well today. I went for my shot and I was the one who was dictating the points,” said Nagal after the match.
On his semifinal against Napolitano, Nagal said, “I have played with him years ago. But he’s playing good tennis and I’m looking forward for tomorrow’s match.”
