Australian Open Update: Sumit Nagal’s Second Round Exit, Women’s Singles Upsets, and Men’s Doubles Progress

2024-01-18 21:18:11

Melbourne: India’s Sumit Nagel’s surge in the Australian Open tennis men’s singles ended in the second round. In women’s singles, third seed Elena Rybakina and fifth seed Jessica Pegula were eliminated in the second round, while in men’s doubles, India’s Rohan Bopanna made it through to the second round.

Sumit Nagal kneeled in front of the Chinese teenager Juncheng Zhang and got out of the tournament. After winning the first set, Nagal lost. Score: 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

The match lasted for two hours and 50 minutes. Twenty-six-year-old Nagal, a native of Jhajjar, Haryana, has lost the reputation of being only the second Indian player to enter the third round of the Australian Open with a loss. Only Ramanathan Krishna was fortunate enough to inherit this achievement. The star’s third round entry was in 1989. Even if he loses, Nagal will get a prize of 1,80,000 Australian dollars (over Rs. 98 lakhs).

With the win, 18-year-old Junchen Zhang became the first Chinese player in the Open era to enter the third round of the Australian Open. A strong opponent awaits Chang in the next round; World No. 2 Carlos Alcarez.

In the men’s doubles category, second seed India’s Rohan Bopanna and Australia’s Matthew Ebden reached the second round. The pair of Australia’s James Duckworth-Mark Pohlmans was overcome by Bopanna in the first round. Score: 7-6, 7-6.

Meanwhile, India’s Vijaysundar Prashant-Anirudh Chandrasekhar combination was knocked out in the first round. Hungary’s Marten Fucsovics-Fabian Marosan team lost. Score: 6-3, 6-4.

Yesterday’s biggest upset was in the women’s singles. Third seed Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina lost to Russia’s Anna Blinkova. Blinkova’s victory was two sets against one. Score: 6-4, 4-6, 7-6. Fifth seed Jessica Pegula of America was beaten by France’s Clara Burrell. Bural defeated Pegula with the score of 6-4, 6-2. Unseeded Emma Raducanu of Great Britain also lost in the second round. 1st seed Iga Zwiatek of Poland, 11th seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 12th seed Qinwen Zeng of China, 18th seed Victoria Azarenka, 19th seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and 27th seed Emma Navarro won in the second round.

In men’s singles, second seed Carlos Alcarez of Spain, sixth seed Alexander Zverev of Germany, ninth seed Hubert Harkacs of Poland, 11th seed Kasper Ruud of Norway, 13th seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, 14th seed Tommy Paul of America, 19th seed Britain’s Cameroon Norrie, 21st-seeded Hugo Humbert of France, Dutch player Tallen Greikspor and 27th-seeded Felix Auger Aliasheim of Canada advanced to the third round.

Third seed Daniil Medvedev advanced to the third round after defeating Finland’s Emil Rusivori. Medvedev came back after losing the first two sets. Score: 6-3, 7-6, 4-6, 6-7, 0-6.

Eighth-seeded Holger Rooney of Denmark, 24th-seeded Jan Lennard Struff of Germany, and 32nd-seeded Jiri Lehka of the Czech Republic were among the leading men’s players who were eliminated in the second round.