Heilbronn (Germany): India's top ranked singles player Sumit Nagal cruised to the semifinal of the ATP 100 Challenger event, winning his quarter-final match against Russia's Ivan Gakhov 6-1 7-6 (7-4) in 82 minutes, here on Friday. Nagal, currently placed 95th in the world, would like to earn as many ranking points possible to give himself the best chance of qualifying for the singles event at the Paris Olympics, where men's draw will be of 64.
The Indian ace brushed aside his disappointing first-round straight-set exit from the French Open at the hands of Karen Khachanov and has been in good form through the week, reaching the last four at the Euro 120,000 tour event. The match lasted for 1 hour and 22 minutes and Nagal's first and second serve percentage of 83 and 70 made the difference compared to Gakhov's 51 and 57, respectively.
Nagal also converted four break points while also managing to save two out of three when he could have been down.
"From end of last year and till this year probably, I have been playing my best tennis. Before that I was out for 16-18 months due to a hip surgery and end of 2022, I could play freely and without any pain," Nagal said after the match.
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