SUMIT NAGAL SHOWS HEART AND FIGHT AT WIMBLEDON

LONDON: The sun had faded, the sky was grey, and the westerly was gentle. It was just past 8 pm on Church Road.

Sumit Nagal was on his courtside seat, shaking his head. He used his towel as an afterthought. The Indian had his higher-ranked opponent Miomir Kecmanovic on the ropes in the ninth game of the third set at 15-40. The 24-year-old’s second serve was met by a stinging Nagal forehand that pulled the world No.52 wide. The Serbian responded with a deep ball which Nagal hesitated in dispatching into an open court and instead came up with a weak response.

Nagal, who made his Wimbledon main draw debut on Monday, finally fell 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 after a 2-hour 39-minute battle.

“Had I won that 3-5 game (in the third set), it could’ve been a different story,” said Nagal. “The match momentum was shifting and obviously when he holds (ninth game) that changes again. It put him ahead two-sets-to-one.”

The residue effect was obvious early in the fourth set.

“The serving was especially poor,” Nagal said of his play, “if you are missing a lot of first serves, you are always behind, more so when you’re playing on grass.”

It was a little past 10 pm, about an hour after the conclusion of the match, and the 26-year-old’s expression still mirrored the lost opportunity.

“It was an amazing experience to play my first main draw here at Wimbledon,” he said. “This surface is tricky, you need to have a bit of experience, very tough to go out there and be able to perform the way you want to.”

Former world No.1 (doubles) Mahesh Bhupathi, who mentors Nagal, and Rohan Bopanna cheered at courtside.

Nagal’s head is constantly ticking, often between points he stretches out his right and uses his index finger as if he were giving directions to a pedestrian. For someone who is quick when chasing a tennis ball across the rectangle, Nagal takes his time getting around otherwise. There’s a swag to his step.

Nagal, who peppered the court with winners, 47 in all, delighted with his single-handed backhand slice, which troubled Kecmanovic, especially early in the match.

“It’s effective on this surface, especially when you’re running to your backhand side,” said Nagal, who played with a single hander for a good part of his junior years, only switching to a two-hander at 14.

“I used to slice a lot when in the juniors,” he said. “But I wanted to really improve my backhand and so changed to a double-hander, which I have improved on a lot in the past few years."