Kslta secretary

Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger Series: The energetic campaign of India’s top men's singles player Sumit Nagal came to an end at the Bengaluru Open on Saturday after a hard-fought loss against Italy’s Stephano Napolitano in the semifinals at the KSLTA Tennis Stadium here. Nagal, who had won the Chennai Open ATP Challenger last week, tried his best against the Italian but fell short in the 7-6(2), 6-4 loss.

The 26-year-old from Delhi started strong as he opened up a 4-1 lead in the opening set before Napolitano began his fightback. The Italian saved a couple of break points with his big serves in the sixth game and then immediately broke the Indian player's serve to put the pressure back on the home favourite.

Napolitano again broke Nagal in the ninth game to take the lead for the first time but the second-seeded Indian responded with a break immediately in the next game as the set went into a tiebreak. It was the Italian who prevailed in the tiebreak as Nagal lost a set for the first time in nine matches.