Xtra Time Web Desk: Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal started with a win in his singles first round match against Denis Istomin at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday. Nagal defeated Istomin in straight sets 6-4,6-7(6),6-4 at the Ariake Tennis Centre to become only the third Indian to win a men’s singles match at the Olympics. He will now meet World No 2 Daniil Medvedev.
Zeeshan Ali was the first Indian to win a singles match at the 1988 Seoul Games when he beat Victo Caballero from Paraguay. After that, the legendary Leander Paes won the historic men’s singles bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Games, beating Brazil’s Fernando Meligeni. No Indian could win a singles match after Paes’ heroic feat even as Somdev Devvarman and Vishnu Vardhan competed at the 2012 Games in London but did not manage to cross the first round hurdle.
The 23-year-old Nagal, who did not come into the Games in his best form, had a break opportunity in the sixth game of the opening set but could not convert. The Indian, though, did not squander the opportunity when Istomin was serving to stay in the set. An early break pushed Nagal ahead 2-0 in the second set in which he raced to a 4-1 lead but perhaps nerves got the better of him when he was serving for the match, up 5-3, and dropped his serve. The experienced Istomin forced a decider by prevailing in the tie-breaker.The final set was on serve till Nagal got the decisive break.
Nagal now faces a herculean task as he faces Australian Open runner-up Medvedev, who beat Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bubilk 6-4 7-6(8).