US Open: Sumit Nagal takes a set from Roger Federer before exiting
New York: The fighting spirit shone through in Sumit Nagal's dream Grand Slam debut as he took a set off the iconic Roger Federer before fizzling out at the US Open, here.
In the much-anticipated clash, the 22-year old from Jhajjar lost 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-4 after giving a glimpse of his talent at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday night.
Nagal became only the fourth Indian to win a set in the main draw of a Grand Slam in the last 20 years. What made it special was that it came against Federer, a colossal figure with 20 Grand Slams to his credit.
Only Somdev Devvarman, Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni have managed to win a set in a Grand Slam main draw before Nagal, in the last two decades.
Nagal, who made the main draw through qualifying, returns from the US Open not only richer by USD 58,000 but also with the experience of what it takes to compete at the biggest stage.
"It was a tough first set for me. He played pretty strong so credit to him. I was missing a lot of balls so I was trying to cut down the unforced errors. Hopefully it will get better," said Federer.
The Swiss let out a firm "No" when asked if he felt for a second that it was 'Nadal' and not 'Nagal' if the name of his rival on the scoreboard had a 'D' instead of a 'G'.
"For you guys and social media, it is," he quipped.
"I was rusty, I will shake it off," said Federer.
Federer endured a shaky start to the match but for Nagal it was the best he would have felt on a tennis court.
The Indian stunned the crowd by breaking Federer's serve in the third game with the Swiss committing a double fault on the second breakpoint.
While a "rusty" Federer was still measuring up his newest rival, ranked 190 in the ATP charts, Nagal, with his deep returns, was setting up winners -- some eye-catching inside-out forehands.
While many would not have expected such a sight, Nagal further shocked the crowd when he broke Federer for the second time and served out the set after being down 0-30.
Hitting deep returns and going for his shots fearlessly and not allowing Federer to come on to the net were key to Nagal's first-set exploits even as the Swiss struggled to contain his unforced errors.
Federer had 19 unforced errors to 9 of Nagal in the opener.
The anticipation grew but Federer shook off the rustiness to dismantle Nagal's game after that. He began serving well, if not his best, and dictated the play with his strong returns, killing points at will at the net.
In no time, he zoomed to a 5-0 lead in the second set and served it out in the seventh but not before Nagal had saved six set points and also earned two break chances.
Nagal was still fighting but Federer was too hot to handle.
The pattern remained the same in the third and fourth sets with Nagal getting a good point here and there but it was largely one-way traffic.
The 20-time Grand Slam Champion came out to serve the match in the 10th but was down 0-40 with Nagal making some solid returns. After saving five breakpoints, Federer closed the match with a strong serve on Nagal's backhand.
After fighting hard for two hours and 25 minutes, Nagal had earned some fans and he walked out of the Artur Ashe Stadium signing a few autographs and to a loud applause.
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Campaigning for second phase of 14 LS seats ends in Karnataka
Bengaluru, May 5: The campaigning for the second phase of polling in 14 Lok Sabha segments in Congress-ruled Karnataka ended on Sunday, with the "Hassan sex scandal" wading into the narrative in no small measure.
Tuesday's elections (May 7) matter the most for the BJP as it had bagged all those 14 seats in the 2019 polls.
Karnataka has a total of 28 Lok Sabha constituencies. The first phase of elections for 14 segments was held on April 26.
Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have targeted the BJP over the alleged sex scandal involving Hassan JD(S) MP, Prajwal Revanna, in campaign rallies.
Rahul Gandhi alleged that Prajwal Revanna had raped 400 women, and lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for seeking votes for a "mass rapist" and sought his apology.
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Prajwal, grandson of former prime minister and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda, is facing allegations of sexually abusing women. The state government has set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the charges.
Prajwal Revanna was the JD(S)-BJP alliance candidate from Hassan seat which went to polls on April 26.
The JD(S) joined the BJP-led NDA in September last year.
The BJP, on the other hand, has attacked the government for alleged failure to "contain anti-national activities", and incidents of 'Love Jihad' and 'appeasement politics'.
The party leaders repeatedly referred to the bomb blast at a cafe here on March 1, the murder of 23-year-old Neha Hiremath on a college campus in Hubballi by Fayaz Khondunaik on April 18 and the raising of pro-Pakistan slogans in the corridors of Vidhana Soudha on February 27.
Speaking to reporters in the district headquarters town of Belagavi, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today said, "In the first phase, we will win about eight to nine seats. In the second phase, we will win in 10 constituencies."
The Congress is also banking heavily on the state government's guarantee schemes and remains optimistic that they will pay the party electoral dividends.
Among the candidates in the fray for the May 7 polls is Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, who is seeking a fifth straight term from Dharwad.
There will be a by-poll to the Shorapur assembly constituency in Yadgir district on May 7 following the death of Congress MLA Raja Venkatappa Naik in February this year.
The 14 segments going to polls on Tuesday are: Belgaum (Belagavi), Uttara Kannada, Chikkodi, Bagalkot (Bagalkote), Bidar, Haveri, Dharwad, Koppal, Bellari (Ballari), Raichur, Bijapur (Vijayapura), Davangere and Shimoga (Shivamogga) and Gulbarga (Kalaburagi).
According to the Election Commission, 227 candidates are in the fray. The BJP and the Congress have fielded 14 candidates each while the Bahujan Samaj Party is trying its luck in nine seats. There are 117 independents. Also, 73 people are fighting the election from registered unrecognised parties.
The 14 constituencies have 2.59 crore voters, the EC said, adding, there are a total of 28,257 main polling stations.
Among the BJP contestants are: former Chief Ministers Basavaraj Bommai (Haveri) and Jagadish Shettar (Belgaum), former Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri (Uttara Kannada) and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa's son B Y Raghavendra (Shimoga).
Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge's son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani is contesting from Gulbarga.
The Congress has fielded Minister Eshwar Khandre's son Sagar Khandre (Bidar), Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar's son Mrinal Hebbalkar (Belgaum), Minister Satish Jarkiholi's daughter Priyanka Jarkiholi (Chikkodi), Minister Shivanand Patil's daughter Samyukta Patil (Bagalkot) and Geetha Shivarajkumar, who is wife of Kannada film actor Shivarajkumar and daughter of former Chief Minister late S Bangarappa (Shimoga).
As Congress has fielded Karnataka Minister for Mines and Geology S S Mallikarjun's wife Prabha Mallikarjun from Davangere, the BJP gave ticket to Gayathri Siddeshwara, who is wife of MP G M Siddeshwara.
The Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements to increase voter turnout amid the soaring temperatures in the 14 constituencies.
From arranging shamianas and tents, additional fans and drinking water facilities, to keeping ambulances on standby and using adjacent rooms of the polling booth as waiting areas, the Election Commission is making efforts to ensure that the polling percentage is not affected due to the "harsh summer".
In this first phase, Karnataka recorded 69.56 per cent voter turnout.
Speaking to PTI, Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Meena said the constituencies where polling will take place on May 7 are in North Karnataka region and the temperature is slightly high there, "so we have made all necessary arrangements to ensure that people aren't deterred from coming out of their homes to vote."
