Sumit Nagal enters final of Banja Luka Challenger

Nagal, placed at a career-best 174 right now, knocked out the fifth seed Horansky 7-6 (1) 6-2 in match that lasted one hour and 44 minutes.

India’s Sumit Nagal sailed into the final of the Banja Luka Challenger with a straight-set win over Slovakia’s Filip Horansky here on Saturday.

File image of Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal.(Getty Images)

Nagal, placed at a career-best 174 right now, knocked out the fifth seed Horansky 7-6 (1) 6-2 in match that lasted one hour and 44 minutes.

He will face Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands in the final. This will be Nagal’s first title clash on ATP Challenger Tour since winning the Bengaluru open in November 2017.

Last month Nagal made his maiden Grand Slam appearance. The 22-year-old from Haryana came through three qualifying rounds of the US Open and took a set off Swiss maestro Roger Federer in the first round before losing 6-4 1-6 2-6 4-6.

In the Challenger in Shanghai, top seed Prajnesh Gunneswaran crashed out in the semifinal. The Indian went down 6-7- 4-6 to Japan’s Yasutaka Uchiyama.