Heilbronn Challenger 100, Germany (Clay) - May 10-16

[vparam]

PG was up 4-1 in the first set and then lost 12 out of the next 15 games.

[jaydeep]

A superb win for Sumit against Kudla after losing a second set badly ... A tough loss for Prajnesh against his Italian opponent.

[jaydeep]

Next, Sumit is playing against a Frenchman Antoine Hoang ... In their only previous meeting, Sumil lost against Antoine in a straight sets (46 26) on clay in the first round of 2018 Francavilla challenger.
This time Sumit is a well prepared and in a good form.

[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,140) vs Antoine Hoang (FRA,131)

[jai_in_canada]

Another topsy-turvy match, but Sumit managed to come out on top!
Sumit Nagal d. Antoine Hoang 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Wild momentum swings in this match too, as in the previous one.
But a W is a W - great to see Sumit win.

[sameerph]

And Sumit recoveres from a bad start to register a very good win.

[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,140) d. Antoine Hoang (FRA,131) 16 61 64

Sumit was up 5-1 in the third set with 2 breaks but gave back both the breaks to get back on serve. But, Sumit broke back at love to take the set and the match.

Next,

[QF] Sumit Nagal (IND,140) vs. Barnabe Zapata Miralles (ESP,139)

As close as it can get in terms of rankings. They have never played each other before. Miralles has been very good form of late. Reached third round at Barcelona,qualfied for Marbella, Mountepeller and Dubai ATP and a challenger final. Seems to be an all court player. This could be tough one for Sumit.

[PKBasu]

Another solid win that prepares him well for the FO qualifiers. But what's with these 61 16 or vice versa sets?

[prasen9]

Here's hoping Sumit can give Bernabe the zapata (zapata/o = shoe).

[vparam]

Another solid win that prepares him well for the FO qualifiers. But what's with these 61 16 or vice versa sets?

Not a big deal. Happens quite often these days with momentum swings. Coco Gauff won a match today in Rome by the score of 6-1, 1-6, 6-1.

[jayakris]

Yeah, probably no big deal that he has had these 1-6 sets... It will only give him confidence in turning things around in any match. Nice to see that Sumit is in good form on clay.

[sameerph]

Divij finally wins a match.

[R1] (2) Divij Sharan (IND) / Sander Arends (NED) d. Taro Daniel (JPN) / Barnabe Zapata Mirallles (ESP) 62 75

Next,

[QF] (2) Divij Sharan (IND) / Sander Arends (NED) vs. Marc Polmans (AUS) / Artem Sitak (NZL)

[Dinesh]

Good win for Divij but next one is certainly tough.

[arjun2761]

Hopefully the trend of Barnabe Zapata losing to Indians has been set!

[jai_in_canada]

Sumit Nagal l. Bernabé Zapata Miralles 3-6, 1-6 in the QF of the Heilbronn Challenger. I watched the last few games. Sumit seemed tired, lacked intensity & focus, and was playing 10 feet behind the baseline. Rallies were short. Sumit made a lot of unforced errors. Good couple of wins at this tournament. So take the positives and the prize money, and onto the next one.

[Sanjay]

Wow, I just checked the score this morning, he got thrashed by an equal opponent.
If he was tired, then I hope he is working on his diet and fitness.

[vparam]

Sumit seems unable to get beyond this stage in a challenger for quite a while. We can talk about the usual reasons like he ran into an inform player or got an unlucky draw, but at some point he needs to get beyond this stage if he has any ambitions to get into the top 100.