US Open 2019: Sumit Nagal beats Japanese Tatsum Ito in straight sets in first-round of qualifiers

New York: Young Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal earned his first win at a Grand Slam qualifying event, knocking out seasoned Japanese Tatsum Ito in straight sets at the US Open qualifiers, here.

Nagal, placed at a career-best 190 right now, knocked out the 133rd ranked and 26th seed 7-6 (6), 6-2 in one hour and 52 minutes on Tuesday. Last year, he had competed in the qualifiers of the Australian Open, the French Open and the Wimbledon Championships but could not win a match.

This is Nagal’s first attempt at making the Grand Slam singles main draw this season in which he enjoyed considerable success and broke into the top-200. The 22-year-old from Haryana next faces Canada’s Peter Polansky, who is ranked 192.

Earlier, India’s Ankita Raina had also won her first-round match against Belgian Ysaline Bonaventure  6-1, 1-6, 6-2. She is scheduled to play Czech Republic’s Denisa Allertova in the second round of the women’s singles qualifying event.