US Open: Federer defeats Sumit Nagal

Swiss tennis maestro Roger Federer defeated India's Sumit Nagal 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round match of the US Open on Monday (local time).

The first set was a closely fought affair as both Federer and Nagal went back and forth and at one stage the set was tied at 4-4. It was then that Nagal won games continuously, and the 22-year old won the first set 6-4.

In the second set, Federer came out all guns blazing and he was seen toiling with Nagal. The Swiss quickly had a lead of 5-0 in the set, however, Nagal was able to peg one game back and the set was positioned at 5-1 in favour of Federer.

 

After going back and forth for a while, Federer was able to win the second set 6-1.

The 38-year-old Federer was in no mood to slow down and he carried the momentum in the third set, and he easily wrapped up the set 6-2.

Nagal, who is currently ranked at the 190th position in the ATP rankings, was able to show grit in the fourth set as the scoreline was levelled at 2-2 at one stage, but Federer bounced back by playing an aggressive style of tennis, forcing Nagal to hang back on the court. In the end, the Swiss won the fourth set 6-4 and ended up winning the match.

The 22-year-old Nagal had qualified for the US Open main draw on Friday.

Nagal had become the youngest Indian in 25 years to qualify for the main draw of a Grand Slam as he had defeated Brazil's Jaao Menezes 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. He had earlier won the Wimbledon Boys' doubles title in 2015.

Earlier in the day, India's Prajnesh Gunneswaran was knocked out of the US Open in the first round by world number five Daniil Medvedev.

Gunneswaran was defeated in straight sets 4-6, 1-6, 2-6.