Bengaluru, Feb 23 (FN Representative) India’s Sumit Nagal went down fighting 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to Max Purcell in an exciting pre-quarterfinals of the DafaNews Bengaluru Open 2023 at the KSLTA Stadium on Thursday. However, the Indian fans still had something to smile about as the doubles pair of Anirudh Chandrasekhar and N Prashanth reached the semifinals, beating Zimbabwe’s Benjamin Lock and Australia’s Akira Santillan 3-6, 6-4, 12-10. The prestigious ATP Challenger event is being organised by the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) at the KSLTA Stadium in Bengaluru.
This was an enthralling back-to-back contest for Nagal after having one such battle in the previous encounter against Nam Hoang Ly. In today’s match, he began on a high note by winning the first set 6-4. He excelled in all departments of the game and did not concede a point on his second serve. Purcell bounced back in the second set by making amends to losing only 33 percent of his second serve points. Hitching up his assets, the Australian broke in the 8th game for a 5-3 lead and won the second set 6-3 with ease. In the final set, both the players kept their serves till the 6th game. However, the Australian played with affirmation as he executed his big serves with equally powerful ground shots. Purcell took 4-3 lead after making a critical break in the 7th game and then expanded the lead to 5-3 by holding his serve. Nagal fought hard in the 9th game, but the Aussie broke and sealed the game, set and match in his favour. Meanwhile, No.5 seed Luca Nardi and Dimitar Kuzmanov also made their way into the last 8 with contrasting wins.
While Nardi fought hard against Jason Jung during his 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 victory, Kuzmanov thrashed Alibek Kachmazov 6-3, 6-4. Results (Singles, Round of 16) Max Purcell beat Sumit Nagal 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; (5) Luca Nardi beat Jason Jung 7-5, 5-7, 6-2; (8) Dimitar Kuzmanov beat Alibek Kachmazov 6-3, 6-4 Results (Doubles, quarter-finals) Anirudh Chandrasekhar / N Prashanth beat Benjamin Lock / Akira Santillan 3-6, 6-4, 12-10.