Sumit sails into semi-finals; Sriram-Jeevan duo knocked out

CHENNAI: India’s Sumit Nagal sailed into the Chennai Open Challenger singles competition semi-finals after a convincing straight-set victory over Jay Clarke of Great Britain at the SDAT Tennis Stadium here on Friday.

In the quarter-final match on Centre Court, Sumit, the last Indian standing in the singles main draw, defeated Clarke 6-1, 6-4 in one hour and 23 minutes to keep ‘local’ hopes alive.

In the last-four stage, the World No.506 Sumit will face America’s Nicolas Moreno De Alboran, who registered a 6-3, 6-4 win over Yasutaka Uchiyama from Japan.

In the final-eight contest on Friday, the 25-year-old Indian brought his A game to the park as he was hardly challenged by Clarke, ranked 313 in the world. Sumit dominated the match from the get go, breaking the Briton’s serve thrice in the first set – in the first, third and seventh game. Clarke gave a better account of himself in the second set, but Sumit bagged the all-important break in the 10th game to close the match out.

Speaking to the media, Sumit, who notched up his fifth singles win (two in qualifiers and three in main draw) in six days at the Chennai Open, said that he was pleased with how he went about his business on the day. “Probably, one of the best matches I have played in this tournament. I maintained my intensity and gameplay throughout the match, so I am very happy. I felt that I was calm and relaxed,” Sumit told reporters.

Meanwhile, No.2 James Duckworth of Australia became the last seeded player to be knocked out in singles as he went down 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 to compatriot Max Purcell.

In the doubles competition, the run of top seeds N Sriram Balaji and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan ended in the semi-final stage after they endured a 6-4, 6-7(5), 4-10 defeat to Sebastian Ofner and Nino Serdarusic. In the other last-four battle, Arjun Kadhe, combining with Clarke, kept the Indian interest alive with a 7-5, 4-6, 10-8 win over Petr Nouza and Andrew Paulson.

RESULTS:

Singles: Quarter-finals: Sumit Nagal bt Jay Clarke 6-1, 6-4; Max Purcell bt James Duckworth 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; Nicolas Moreno De Alboran bt Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-3, 6-4; Dane Sweeny bt Arthur Cazaux 6-7(5), 7-6(9), 6-3.

Doubles: Semi-finals: Sebastian Ofner/Nino Serdarusic bt N Sriram Balaji/Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan 4-6, 7-6(5), 10-4; Jay Clarke/Arjun Kadhe bt Petr Nouza/Andrew Paulson 7-5, 4-6, 10-8.

SINGLES SEMI-FINAL LINE-UP: Nicolas Moreno De Alboran vs Sumit Nagal; Dane Sweeny vs Max Purcell