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US Open 2020: Sumit Nagal wins first-ever grand slam match, beats Bradley Klahn
India's highest-ranked men's singles tennis player Sumit Nagal created history on Tuesday night as he won his first-ever grand slam main draw match after he defeated world no. 129 Bradley Klahn in the first-round match of the US Open 2020.
Nagal, ranked 124th in the world, dominated his American opponent in four sets, with a score of 6-1, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 at a duration of 2 hours 12 minutes.
Nagal's victory comes seven years after Somdev Devvarman had won a singles match at US Open in 2013 for India. Somdev won his men's singles first round match against Slovak Lukas Lacko 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, in 3 hours 11 minutes.
Nagal, currently India’s top-ranked men’s singles player, will hope to recreate his form from the last year when he took a set off Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer. He will possibly clash against world No 3 Dominic Thiem in the next round if he surpasses the challenge against Jaume Munar.
Nagal has done all he could to be prepared for the first Grand Slam since the Covid-19 outbreak. When the tour was suspended in March because of the pandemic, he decided to stay back in Peine, Germany, where he trains at the Sascha Nensel Academy. Professional players were allowed to resume training towards the end of May in the country, and Nagal managed to compete in exhibition events in Germany and Switzerland before heading to Prague for a Challenger, shortly before flying to the United States.
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