Sumit Nagal loses to lower-ranked player in Braunschweig ATP Challenger event

India’s top-ranked tennis player Sumit Nagal was beaten by Pedro Cachin of Argentina in the pre-quarterfinals of the Braunschweig ATP challenger. Cachin, ranked 117 in the world, beat Nagal, ranked 73 in the world, 6-4, 7-5.

Nagal was the second seed in the Braunschweig ATP challenger.

The Argentine player started well and kept the momentum going after breaking Nagal’s serve early in the first set. He closed out the first set with minimum fuss and looked in great touch as Nagal struggled to keep the ball in play.

When it looked like it was one-way traffic, Nagal broke Cachin’s serve when he was serving for the match at 5-4 to make it 5-5.

However, he soon lost his serve in the next game as Cachin took a 6-5 lead. The momentum was enough, as Cachin soon closed out the match in his favour.

Nagal had beaten Felipe Alves of Brazil in the first round of the clay court tournament.

The top-ranked Indian singles player will next concentrate on the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Summer Games in Paris will be Nagal’s second appearance at the prestigious quadrennial Games after playing in Tokyo in 2021.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Nagal beat Denis Istomin in the first round but lost to Daniil Medvedev in the second round.

The Paris Olympics men’s singles will have 64 players in the draw with the top 56 men's singles players, as per the ATP rankings on June 10, confirmed their berths for the Olympics.

Although Nagal was ranked 21 places behind, he managed to seal a berth as only a maximum of four players can compete from each country. With multiple players from a single country ahead of him, and some players opting out of the Paris Olympics, Nagal confirmed his berth.

Nagal lost in the first round of the ongoing Wimbledon Championships in London.