Sardegna Open: India's Sumit Nagal eliminated in first-round defeat to Slovakia's Jozef Kovalik

Cagliari: India’s Sumit Nagal bowed out in the opening round of the ATP 250 Sardegna Open, losing a hard-fought three-set match to Slovakia’s Jozef Kovalik on Tuesday. Both world No 136 Nagal and world No 124 Kovalik came into the main draw through qualifying rounds and the Slovak prevailed 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 in a contest that lasted for two hours and 13 minutes. Nagal had earlier won both his qualifying round games in straight sets. He won 6-2, 6-1 against Frenchman Maxime Janvier in the second round of qualifiers to make it to the main draw. Prior to that, he defeated local player Andrea Pellegrino 6-3, 6-4 in the first qualifying round. Nagal, who is one of India’s best talents in the sport, recently competed in the Australian Open, where he lost in his first-round match.