India’s Sumit Nagal has lost in the first round of the Genoa Challenger to Giulio Zeppieri in straight sets.
Nagal, who shot to fame in his loss to Roger Federer in the first round of the 2019 US Open, went down to the unheralded world number 470th ranked 6-1, 7-5 in a surprise result.
The Indian had later admitted he would have been struggling to compete at the highest level of tennis but for Virat Kohli.
Kohli, who is the Indian cricket team’s captain, runs a sports foundation which has been supporting Nagal – and other sportsmen like him – and the tennis player has creditted its presence for his continued showing in the world of tennis.
Nagal, who managed to take a set off Federer, qualified for the US Open by winning three matches in a row. He went down fighting in four sets to Federer, who has 20 Grand Slams to his name and will currently feature in the quarter-final of this year’s final major against Grigor Dimitrov.
Speaking to the Times of India, Nagal spoke of the times when he had a mere six dollars in his pocket during a trip between Canada and Germany. He said it would do athletes a world of good if they got the same support as he has from the Kohli foundation.
Nagal said:
“Early this year, when I was flying from Canada to Germany after a tournament, I had six dollars in my wallet… just six dollars after the help that I have been getting, so imagine what a mess I must have been before. But I survived, and things are getting better. If people fund athletes, it will only help the sport flourish in the country. I am fortunate to get that support from Virat.”
Nagal made his entry into the 2019 US Open qualifiers with a string of good results at the Challenger level. He made the semi-final of the Savannah Challenger, and another last-four appearance at Samarkand Challenger. The world number 190 followed those up with another three such semi-finals that helped him get there, before he won his three qualifiers to make the main draw.
He has said he will be looking to play a few more Challengers before the end of the year in a bid to improve his ranking.
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