Heilbronner Neckarcup: Sumit Nagal advances to the final with straight-set win

India's ace tennis player Sumit Nagal has reached his second final of the year after a solid win over Luca Van Assche of France at the Heilbronner Neckarcup in Heilbronn, Germany, on Saturday.

Sumit showed some great returns and a few cheeky drop shots in the tiebreaker to clinch the match in straight sets (6-2, 7-6(5)) against Luca, who is ranked 103 in the world, at this ATP Challenger 100 event.

Sumit had a brilliant start to the match as he broke Luca's first serve and took an early lead of 2-0. However, Luca broke back after an intense game that lasted for 20 points.

Sumit regained his form and introduced a powerful return game to claim two more breaks in the set, winning it comfortably. The second set was equally challenging as both players struggled to hold their serves.

The topsy-turvy set went into a tiebreaker after Sumit missed three match point opportunities in the final game, giving Luca a chance to make a comeback.

The tiebreaker was close and competitive, staying even at 5-5. At this point, Sumit found a great cross-court shot to win a mini-break, giving him his fourth match point.

This time he didn't falter, converting it with a down-the-line return on his own serve to book a spot in the final.

Nagal entered the tournament as the third-seeded player and has now reached the final on Sunday, where he will face a much lower-ranked opponent. A tournament win here will help the Indian ace reach his career-high ranking and bring him a step closer to the Paris Olympics.