Pune, (samajweekly) Indian tennis players, Sumit Nagal and the 15-year-old prodigy Manas Dhamne put up gutsy performances but ended up on the losing side in their respective singles opening round matches in the Tata Open Maharashtra ATP Tour event at the Balewadi Stadium here on Monday.
While the 25-year-old Nagal conceded a 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 defeat in a thrilling three-setter against the sixth-seeded Filip Krajinovic, Dhamne impressed on his ATP Tour debut before going down fighting against the World No. 113 Michael Mmoh 2-6, 4-6.
Nagal, a wildcard entrant, recovered well in time after losing the first set against the World No. 54 Serbian player. He looked in good touch as the game progressed and pocketed the second set comfortably to level the scores.
However, Krajinovic, the former World No. 26 who defeated Novak Djokovic in Belgrade in 2010, held his nerve in the decider and managed to tilt the result in his favour despite a stiff challenge from Nagal.
Earlier in the day, the tennis prodigy Dhamne, another wildcard, began confidently by bagging the opening game in the first set.
Playing in front of the home fans, the local boy Dhamne made the former World No. 96, Mmoh work hard for each point
“I was a bit nervous before the match but as I went onto the court and played a few points, I felt good. The first point was really important. It calmed me down and the nervousness went away,” Dhamne said after the match.
