Tampere, Jul 22 (PTI) Indian tennis player Sumit Nagpal, seeded seventh, fought off a spirited challenge from unseeded Spaniard Daniel Rincon to secure a final berth in the Tampere Open here on Saturday.
The 25-year-old Indian won 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to enter his fifth Challenger-level final and his second Challenger final this year after winning the Garden Open in Rome in April, where he had defeated Jesper de Jong of the Netherlands in straight sets.
Nagal will take on the winner of the second semifinal between Henri Squire of Germany and Dalibor Svrčina of the Czech Republic on Sunday.
Nagal’s run here has been a memorable one. He prevailed over wildcard Jiří Veselý of the Czech Republic in straight sets in the opening round, followed by wins over Brazil’s JL Reis da Silva in the pre-quarters and Mohamed Aziz Dougaz of Tunisia in the quarterfinals.
Nagal first played a Challenger final in 2017 during the Bengaluru Open, winning against Jay Clarke of Great Britain.
He played a couple of more finals two years later, losing to Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands in the Banja Luka Open 2019 before winning against Facundo Bagnis of Argentina in Buenos Aires.
Source: PTI News
