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Davis Cup: Nagal goes down fighting, Ferrer wins as Spain beat India 5-0
Sumit Nagal looked set to get India their first point before breathing issues and a tireless Marc Lopez saw him lose the Davis Cup World Group reverse singles tie 3-6, 6-1, 3-6 on Sunday.
Sumit Nagal looked set to get India their first point before breathing issues and a tireless Marc Lopez saw him lose the Davis Cup World Group reverse singles tie 3-6, 6-1, 3-6 on Sunday.
The 19-year-old Nagal was playing his first Davis Cup singles match. Marc his second after another dead rubber win against Ukraine in 2013. In fact, the unranked Marc hadn’t played a singles match since the 2014 Barcelona Open.
Nagal came into the tie with form behind him. The 2015 Wimbledon Boys doubles champion made the semifinal of a Futures in Italy last week, and won one in Poland last month.
On Sunday, the Indian came out of the gates rushing, and went toe to toe with the Spaniard. After losing the first set, Nagal broke Marc twice in the second and in the first game of the third and looked all set to close the match out. But he began struggling in the marathon second game, which saw Nagal save break points and call for a medical timeout. He broke Lopez again to take a 3-0 lead, before losing six games in a row to lose the rubber.
Read | Despite defeat, Sumit Nagal shows champions’ spirit on Davis Cup debut
“I exactly don’t know what happened,” when asked of the discomfort at the press conference. “I had problems breathing. I wasn’t getting the same oxygen that I was before. Anand (Amritraj) said it was a gas problem. And when you don’t know what’s happening, it’s hard to treat it.”
And while he did well to hide any nerves, Nagal said that the high-profile debut could’ve been a reason.
“Nervous tension could be the reason. It definitely wasn’t a catch. It was affecting my lungs,” Nagal said.
And while Marc’s recent lack of singles experience should have worked in Nagal’s advantage, the Indian said it put extra pressure.
“When you start thinking that he is a doubles player, I have to defeat him, it makes it worse,” said Nagal. “He’s only playing doubles now. He is still fit enough to play three sets. He was close to being top 100 (world No 104 in 2004) and has won (four) Challengers.”
Nagal also noted that the “the humidity was crazy. He was tired but at the end, he had an extra 2%, and that’s what mattered.”
Marc, who had partnered Rafael Nadal to a tight win over India’s Leander Paes and Saketh Myneni, said that, “It was tough to play singles after a tough doubles match, especially for me who doesn’t play this discipline.”
The 34-year-old had a few words of appreciation for his young opponent.
“I hadn’t heard of Nagal. My sparring partner told me that he has got a good forehand, and I found that out for myself during the match. He’s young and needs to be trained hard. It’s important for Indian tennis that he plays well.”
Lopez’s win put the visitors 4-0 ahead and then David Ferrer came out to play his clinical game and seal the 5-0 cleansweep for Spain by beating Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-2, 6-2 in one hour, 11 minutes.
