Tennis

Indian tennis star Sumit Nagal believes he had the momentum in the third set of his Wimbledon first-round match against higher-ranked Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, but his relative inexperience on grass ultimately cost him the match.Nagal, 26, lost to Kecmanovic, ranked 19 places higher than him, in a marathon four-setter lasting nearly three-and-a-half hours. The Indian won the second set to level the match, but the Serbian regained control to advance."This is my first main draw at Wimbledon, and playing on the grass surface is not easy; you need a bit of experience," Nagal said. "But I think I did whatever I could, I fought hard. I felt like I could have served better, and there were a few things here and there in the match I could have done better."Nagal admitted that the momentum was shifting in his favor in the third set. "I think, like I said, if I could have broken him at 5-3, him serving, I think the match could have changed in a funny way."Despite the loss, Nagal cherished the Wimbledon experience. "It was a great experience. Obviously, when you play for three, three-and-a-half hours, you always feel like, 'this could have been done or that could have been done.' But like I said, if I could have changed things in the third set, I would have really liked that (broken the opponent at 5-3)."Nagal's goal remains to climb the rankings ladder, and he is eager to perform well at the Paris Olympics, where he will transition to clay courts. "I keep on climbing the rankings. There are a few goals that I need to finish, and that will be one of them — to keep on climbing the rankings. Now, I'm going back on clay to get ready for Paris. I'm looking forward to it; it's going to be my second Olympics, and I'm super, super excited for it."Tennis legend Mahesh Bhupathi believes Nagal should have converted his chances. "Everyone's disappointed, but he's had a breakthrough year, he's played high-quality tennis. That guy's a good player and he had his chances there in the third set and that's the way it is. In events like this, you've got to take your chances, otherwise, you're going to come out on the losing end."Former Davis Cupper Zeeshan Ali advised Nagal not to be disheartened by the loss. "I feel that Sumit should not be very disheartened by this loss because he played a very good match. He played an incredibly good second set and he had a lot of chances. Going forward, I think he definitely needs to prepare better to play in a tournament like Wimbledon, maybe get a couple of matches in before the main draw of Wimbledon starts, and that would definitely help him prepare better."

India's top singles player Sumit Nagal is set to make history at Wimbledon, becoming the first Indian male to compete in the men's singles main draw since 2018. Nagal, currently ranked 72nd in the world, will face a formidable challenge in his first-round match against Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, ranked 53rd.Nagal's path to the third round could potentially lead him to a clash with world number one Jannik Sinner, who is seeded first in the tournament. However, even reaching the second round will be a significant hurdle, as Nagal must overcome Kecmanovic, who defeated him in their only previous encounter four years ago.If Nagal manages to advance past the opening round, he will face the winner of the match between Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain and Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands. Nagal has previously lost in the first round of Wimbledon qualifiers in 2018, but he has enjoyed a successful season so far, qualifying for the Australian Open main draw and winning the Chennai Open ATP Challenger.In men's doubles, veteran Indian Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden, seeded second, will take on Adrian Mannarino and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France in the first round. Bopanna and Ebden, the reigning Australian Open champions, reached the semifinals of Wimbledon last year.Another Indian, N Sriram Balaji, will partner with British player Luke Johnson to face the fourth-seeded Croatian-Salvadorian combination of Mate Pavic and Marcelo Arevalo, who won the French Open this year. Yuki Bhambri and his French partner Albano Olivetti will meet the Kazakh duo of Alexander Bublik and Alexander Shevchenko, while Nagal and Serbia's Dusan Lajovic will take on Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar of Spain.Nagal's participation in Wimbledon marks a significant milestone for Indian tennis, and his performance will be closely watched by fans around the country.