Franch open

Sumit Nagal: Top Indian singles player Sumit Nagal suffered a setback as he went down to 18th seed Karen Khachanov in the men's singles first round, ending his maiden entry into the main draw of the clay court major on a losing note in the Franch Open here on Monday.

It was expected to be an uphill task for Nagal as he was facing a top-20 player and the match went on expected lines though the Indian did put up some fight in the third set, taking his 28-year-old opponent to the tiebreaker. Also, clay is Nagal's least favourite surface.

The 26-year-old Nagal eventually lost 6-2, 6-0, 7-6(5) in a 2 hour and 27-minute match played on Court 7 which was initially interrupted by rain here on Monday.