Fortuitous Napolitano subdues Nagal, Hong downs Batalla

Bengaluru: The most-anticipated semifinal at the dafaNews Bengaluru Open turned out to be a heartbreak for Sumit Nagal, the only Indian left in the singles draw.

The match was poised at 15-15 in the 10th game of the second set when Stefano Napolitano was ahead 5-4 with Nagal serving to stay alive. 

The Italian’s weak backhand crosscourt pass, that would have been an easy put away by a ready Nagal at the net, hit the tape and fell off it on the Indians’ side of the court. Napolitano’s hands went up in apology, both to his opponent and the shocked crowd.

Now at 15-30, a similar scenario ensued in the very next point. Nagal was flummoxed, Napolitano forced a straight face as he was suddenly staring at two match points. 

Right after, a forehand error coming off Nagal’s racket saw the 29-year-old Napolitano snatch a 7-6 (2), 6-4 win to march into the final here on Saturday.

The climax of the contest might have looked facile. However, there were no free points on offer for either player throughout the two-hour-eight-minute slugfest.

The World No. 98 Nagal stepped into the semifinal on the back of an eight-match winning streak without having lost a set.

High on confidence and the Chennai Open title in his pocket last week, the 26-year-old looked unstoppable. But a determined Napolitano (ranked 204) had other plans.

He held ground when pushed, used his big frame to attack at will and got lucky to oust an in-form home favourite. 

The other last-four clash turned out to be a thriller too between South Korea’s Seong Chan Hong and Spain’s Oriol Roca Batalla.

It was more a test of their physical and mental forte as both men had secured hard-fought wins in their respective quarterfinal clashes. But it was Hong who had a little more left in the tank to get the better of Batalla with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win. 

With Nagal defeated, Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan brought some cheer for the hosts by capturing the doubles trophy.

The Indian pair defeated French duo Constantin Bittoun Kouzmine and Maxime Janvier 6-3, 6-4 to win their second consecutive title and a third overall as a team. 

Results: Singles: Semifinals (prefix denotes seeding): 7-Stefano Napolitano bt 2-Sumit Nagal 7-6 (2), 6-4; 9-Seong Chan Hong bt Oriol Roca Batalla 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. 

Doubles: Final: Saketh Myneni/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (Ind) bt Constantin Bittoun Kouzmine/ Maxime Janvier (Fra) 6-3, 6-4.