CHENNAI, 14 Feb: Sumit Nagal was the lone Indian to emerge victorious in the opening round of the singles main draw while three of his compatriots bowed off the Chennai Open ATP Challenger tournament in Chennai on Tuesday.
Nagal, who made it to the main draw through the qualifying round, beat No.4 seed Ryan Peniston 6-4, 6-4 to make it to the Round of 16.
Nagal, currently ranked 506 in the world, wore down his rival from Great Britain in a baseline battle in a match that lasted an hour and 50 minutes.
The Indian converted five of the 13 break points he created and held his nerve at crucial junctures to edge out Peniston, ranked 147 on the ATP Tour.
The 25-year-old Nagal had won two qualifying round matches to earn a spot in the tournament proper. He will meet lucky loser Jason Jung in the round of 16.
Meanwhile, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, bothered by an injury, lost a close match 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (4-7) to Britain’s Jay Clarke.
Gunneswaran served strongly and played aggressively against Clarke but a fall in the final set tie-break hampered his chances and he missed out after the two were level at 4-4.
Ramkumar Ramanathan raised his level of play after losing the first set 3-6 to push No.8 seed Dimitar Kuzmanov of Bulgaria to a tie-break in the second set before succumbing to his opponent.
Sasikumar Mukund, the fourth Indian in the main draw, was outclassed 6-2, 6-2 by Australian Max Purcell, the Wimbledon doubles champion last year, in another first-round match.
Leo Borg, son of Swedish tennis legend Bjorn Borg, fought hard against Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic before going down in three sets. (PTI)