Sumit Nagal was put through his sternest test yet by Coleman Wong but the second seeded Indian had enough grunt in him to fight past the Hong Kong man to enter the quarterfinals of the Bengaluru Open here on Thursday.
Nagal won 6-2 7-5 after an hour and 46 minutes of intense battle.
But the beginning belied the struggles awaited Nagal in the later stages of the match.
Nagal continued the pattern of earning an early break when he went up 2-0 in the opening set. But it was not all smooth sailing as the 26-year-old had to battle past from 0-30 down in the very next game to hold his serve.
Nagal got another break in the eighth game to bag the first set 6-2.
But the 19-year-old Wong had more fight in him in the second set.
After the first four games went by serve, the Hong Kong player broke Nagal in the fifth game, and it was the first time the Indian dropped his serve in this tournament.
Wong found his serves and ground shots going during this passage, as Nagal looked a tad perplexed by the unexpected fightback.
However, the world No. 98 broke back in the sixth game itself to restore the parity at 3-3, though it was more the result of his rival committing a couple of unforced errors.
In the seventh game, Nagal found himself 0-40 down as Wong pulled out a couple of fine winners on either flank of the court.
But Nagal lifted his game by a notch at this moment to make it a deuce and a couple of points later he managed to hold the serve to go 4-3 up.
The Indian star received a brilliant chance to close out the game in the 10th game when he went up 40-15 on Wong;s serve.
But Wong saved both the match points, hammering an ace down the middle first and followed it up with another bazooka serve that Nagal failed to retrieve from his backhand.
Wong eventually held his serve when Nagal drove a backhand into the net.
But Nagal did not miss his third match point which came in the 12th game.
Up 40-30, Nagal was pushed to a corner by Wong's strong volley, but the former champion found enough space to squeeze in a forehand cross court winner to finally walk off the court with a relived smile on his face.
Results (Singles, Pre-Quarterfinals): Sumit Nagal (2) beat Coleman Wong 6-2, 7-5, Stefano Napolitano (7) beat Vasek Pospisil 6-4 4-6 6-4, Moez Echargui beat Enrico Dalla Valle 6-2 6-2, Adam Walton (5) beat Gauthier Onclin 6-2 6-2.
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