India’s Sumit Nagal, who shone to limelight following an impressive US Open display saw himself sail into the semifinals of the ATP Challenger Campinas after an impressive victory over Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo.
The 22-year-old, currently placed at a career best ranking of 135, continued with his recent form to knock out the 13th seed Cerundolo 7-6 7-5 and enter into his second semi final in two weeks.
Prior to this hard fought win, luck had shone brightly on the Indian’s side as he received a bye in the first round before his second round opponent Gastao Elias retired mid way in the first set. The round of 16 tie saw Nagal overcome Orlando Luz of Brazil 7-5 6-3.
Nagal will now face Juan Pablo Ficovich of Argentina in the semi final. The sixth seed Indian will look to put up an impressive show on display and also hope to add to his Buenos Aires ATP Challenger title he secured last week.
Following his triumph last week, Nagal spoke to the media from Buones Aires saying that he felt proud of playing a good brand of tennis. But at the same time, he also expressed his disappointment in no one coming to invest in the sport for him.
“I was all alone here. No one was with me to help out. One way, it has been great that I have been playing good tennis but it’s not easy to do it and I’m really sad.”
“The path is lonely despite doing well at the US Open. I qualified at 22 and led a set against Roger Federer but it still has not made impact anywhere. It’s really sad nobody is coming up to invest into tennis,” Nagal told PTI.
