Yukti Bhambri and Sumit Nagal
It was a disappointing day for Indian tennis on European clay, with both Sumit Nagal and Yuki Bhambri suffering early exits from their respective tournaments on Wednesday. India’s top-ranked singles player, Sumit Nagal, bowed out of the French Open qualifiers in the second round, losing 2-6, 4-6 to Austria’s Jurij Rodionov at Roland Garros.
The defeat not only ended Nagal’s Paris campaign but also marked the first time in 2024 that he failed to reach the main draw of a Grand Slam.
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Nagal, currently ranked 170th in the world, had opened his qualifying bid with a confident straight-sets win over American Mitchell Krueger. However, he could not replicate that form against the 225th-ranked Rodionov, who wrapped up the match in one hour and 29 minutes. The Austrian showed greater composure in key moments and capitalised on Nagal’s errors. Rodionov dominated the first set with powerful groundstrokes and superior court coverage, breaking Nagal twice to take it 6-2. In the second set, the Indian fought back after trailing 2-4, breaking Rodionov in the seventh game and holding a tough eighth game after being 0-30 down. But serving to stay in the match at 4-5, Nagal faltered again, handing Rodionov the win and a spot in the final qualifying round.
Quiz: Who's that IPL player?The loss is a significant setback for Nagal, who had made it to the main draw of all four Grand Slams earlier this year, a rare achievement for an Indian singles player in recent times. With the grass-court season approaching, Nagal is expected to regroup and target a stronger run during the Wimbledon qualifiers.
Meanwhile, India’s Yuki Bhambri and his American partner Robert Galloway also suffered an early exit at the Geneva Open. The second-seeded Indo-American duo went down 6-7(3), 4-6 against unseeded Germans Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner in their Round of 16 clash at the ATP 250 event. Despite entering the tournament with momentum from a runner-up finish at the Bordeaux Challenger last week, Bhambri and Galloway could not carry their form into Geneva. The pair split €3,240 in prize money but were denied ATP ranking points following the early defeat. The opening set was a tightly contested affair with both teams holding serve, but the German duo edged the tiebreak 7-3. In the second set, a solitary break proved decisive as Schnaitter and Wallner closed out the match in straight sets. The Geneva Open had presented Bhambri with another chance to find rhythm ahead of the Roland Garros qualifiers. However, the 31-year-old’s European clay campaign continues to be marred by inconsistency.
Prior to Bordeaux, Bhambri had endured first-round exits in Monte Carlo (with Alexei Popyrin), Munich, Madrid, and Rome. With the French Open on the horizon, both Nagal and Bhambri will be hoping to regroup quickly. While recent results have been underwhelming, glimpses of form offer hope for a resurgence as they look to revive their seasons on grass and clay respectively.
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