Nagal wins thriller against Giannessi to enter Perugia Challenger quarter-final

Perugia (Italy), June 12

Indian tennis star Sumit Nagal continued his fine form as he entered the quarterfinal of the ongoing Perugia Challenger here.

On Wednesday, the sixth-seeded Indian toppled unseeded local Alessandro Giannessi in a three-set thriller 0-6, 7-5, 7-6(7-5).

Last week, India’s top singles player had won the Heilbronn Challenger in Germany.

In the opening set, Nagal received heavy thrashing after the Italian blanked him 6-0.

However, the 77th-ranked Indian did not back down from a fightback and kept things close in the following set before earning a lone break and winning the set 7-5 to take things to the decider.

As for the final set, it was ‘game on’ for both the competitors, who eventually took to the tie-breaker, where Nagal survived to take the set 7-6(7-5).

In the quarterfinal, the Indian will face off against the winner of the pre-quarterfinal clash between Maks Kasnikowski of Poland and third seed Borna Coric of Croatia.

Earlier, in the opening round, Nagal had secured a straight-set 7-6(7-1), 6-2 victory over an unseeded Nerman Fatic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Following the conquest at Heilbronn, the Indian has assured himself of a spot in the singles event of the Paris Olympics next month.