Paris (France): India's best-ranked tennis player Sumit Nagal stuck to his strong baseline game, but that didn't seem to be enough against the Frenchman Corentin Moutet, who knocked out the Indian from the Paris Olympics with a three-set win in the cliffhanger on Sunday.
In his second appearance at the Olympic Games, Nagal bounced back after losing the first set but fell 2-6, 6-4, 5-7 in two hours and 28 minutes at Roland Garros.
In the Tokyo Games, Nagal had lost in the second round to Russian Daniil Medvedev, but he could not make the most of a manageable opener here.
The French player began with an underarm serve, much to the amusement of the home fans. He, however, ended up serving a double fault. It was an easy hold for the southpaw even as Nagal also bounced back with a hold at love. Moutet struggled a bit with his first serve but fed Nagal a lot of high balls and attacked his backhand more to build on the break.
Nagal had his chances to get the break back in game four but squandered four break points. He was down by another break point in game five but saved and held when Moutet just missed the line with his return.
It was crucial for Nagal to hold serve after falling behind 2-4, but he erred on overhead volley at breakpoint. Moutet pocketed the opening set when Nagal's forehand return soared over the baseline.
The second set was not a one-way traffic with Nagal finding his rhythm. The free points were not given. After playing two deuce points, Moutet again served underarm, and this time got the point as Nagal netted the return. A furious Nagal pointed his finger in the sky, but the crowd loved the moment. Nagal finally had his first break of the match when Moutet's dropped shot crashed into the net.
Before that, on the second break point, when he netted the return, Nagal had banged his racket on the court, letting go of the frustration.
The French player yet again resorted to giving high balls and drop shots to Nagal to break the momentum and almost succeeded, but Nagal too stuck to his guns, avoiding an early break. He then broke Moutet when he double faulted while facing his fourth break point.
Leading 2-0 in the decider, Nagal had a perfect opportunity to run away with the match but found himself down 0-40. He saved the first breakpoint, but a drive volley error from him meant that the set was back on serve.
Serving at 5-5, Nagal began by netting a forehand, and Moutet found a stunning forehand slice passing winner on the run.
Another forehand error put Nagal down by three break points. He lost the fourth point in a row when he could not pick up a half volley. It was not difficult from there for Moutet to close the match.
He will play either Australian world number six Alex de Minaur or Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff next. (With agency inputs)
