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India's Sumit Nagal made India proud at the Tokyo Olympics 2021 on Saturday, defeating Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-4 in the first round. With the win, Nagal has become the first Indian player to win a singles match at the Olympics since Leander Paes in 1996.
Sitting outside the top 150 of the ATP rankings, Sumit Nagal had a mediocre 2021 season coming into Tokyo; the Indian had accumulated an 18-17 win-loss record across all competitive matches in the year. But Nagal had as good a debut at the Olympics as he could have imagined, upstaging the 6'2" Uzbek with his solid forehand.
Both players held serve comfortably until 4-4 in the first set. Istomin then generated three break points in the ninth game, which Nagal staved off with some brave play.
Nagal caught fire from that point onwards, breaking Istomin in the next game with some solid groundstrokes to take the first set 6-4.
The 23-year-old then took the upper hand early on in the second set, going up a break thanks to some careless play from Istomin. The Uzbek could barely get his first serve in at that point, which made things easier for Nagal.
It should be noted, however, that both players put up underwhelming numbers on their serve throughout the match. Nagal and Istomin both struggled to find their range on the first serve, which meant they had to be extra sharp during their respective return games.
Denis Istomin, who famously upset Novak Djokovic at the 2017 Australian Open, fired back in the seventh game though, coming up with two break points. Nagal staved both of them off with intelligent body serves to hold for 5-2, but was subsequently broken in the ninth game as Istomin produced some huge groundstrokes.
The 34-year-old soon took charge of proceedings to nab the second set in a close tiebreaker, winning it 8-6. Sumit Nagal, however, regained his composure in the third set.
Both players looked strong on serve until Nagal surprised the Uzbek by breaking him in the ninth game. The Indian then finally clinched the win after nearly three hours, serving out the match effortlessly.
Sumit Nagal will next face World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, who beat Alexander Bublik in his first-round match earlier on Saturday. Although Medvedev will be the firm favourite to come through against Nagal, the Indian can take pride in the fact that he will get to represent his country in such a high-profile match.
