Sumit Nagal defeats Corentin Moutet, enters round of 16 in Marrakech

India’s top-ranked male player Sumit Nagal progressed to the round of 16 of Marrakech Open, an ATP 250 event, in Morocco on Tuesday.

World No. 95 Nagal began his clay season by defeating Frenchman Corentin Moutet, ranked four places below him, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to record his first Tour-level win since reaching the second round of the Australian Open.

Nagal got revenge for his loss to the same opponent in a Challenger final in Helsinki last year.

“I think I played a really good match, especially the second and third sets. I served well, went for my shots and today, it went more in my favour than the last time we played in Helsinki,” said Nagal.

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“He is a very good player. He fights and competes really well and is very crafty. So, it is not easy to play him. He always gets you out of rhythm. There are going to be some tricky points but I’m happy with the way I went on the court and ended the match.”

Nagal next faces fourth-seeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego in a repeat of the first-round clash from this year’s Dubai Championships.

At the US Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston, an ATP 250 event, the all-Indian men’s doubles pair of Anirudh Chandrasekar and N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth reached the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over local wildcards Michael Mmoh and Frances Tiafoe.

In the $40,000 ITF women’s event in Kashiwa, Japan, eighth seed Ankita Raina fought for three hours and 23 minutes before being beaten 7-6(1), 4-6, 7-6(1) by Ya-Hsuan Lee of Chinese Taipei in the first round.

Ankita, however, made the doubles quarterfinals with Chia Yi Tsao of Chinese Taipei as they beat Yu-Yun Li & Hong Yi Cody Wong 6-2, 6-1.