India’s Sumit Nagal impressed on his Grand Slam debut, winning the first set against Roger Federer before the third seed fought back to advance to the second round.The 38-year-old Swiss ace secured a battling 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 victory over 190-ranked Indian qualifier in two and a half hours, early on Tuesday morning in India.
The five-time US champion produced 19 unforced errors to surprisingly drop the first set against the qualifier from India, who is yet to win a match on the ATP World Tour.
Also read: On Grand Slam debut, against Federer, resurgent Sumit Nagal just wants to live the moment
Federer had the early break at 2-0 but the 22-year-old Indian held his nerve and broke right back. With another solid game at 4-5, he converted his second break point to get the chance to serve out the set.
In the process, he became the first Indian to win a set against the 20-time Major winner.
But the 38-year-old – who had lost the first set he played at Wimbledon this year as well – bounced back in the next set and raced to a double break and levelled the match. From thereon, Federer was far more effective on return and clinched his 1,224th career victory to book a meeting with Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur.
While serving for the match, Nagal had four break points but was unable to get a foot in. Here’s a look at the numbers from the match.
“I played like my beard today. I was rusty,” Federer said.
“Just tried to forget it, play tough, stay with him. It was a tough first set for me,” Federer said. “He came back and played really strong. I was missing a lot of balls and trying to cut back on unforced errors. “It all came back just in time.
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