Tampere Open 2023 tennis: Sumit Nagal wins fourth ATP Challenger title; second of the year

Sumit Nagal won the Tampere Open 2023 ATP Challenger men’s singles title in Finland on Sunday. It was the Indian tennis player’s fourth ATP Challenger Tour title.

The 25-year-old Sumit Nagal beat Czech Republic’s Dalibor Svrcina 6-4, 7-5 in the final to win his second ATP Challenger event of the year. In April, Sumit Nagal won the Garden Open in Rome to end a four-year-long title drought.

The Indian tennis player’s other two ATP Challenger wins include the Buenos Aires and Bengaluru Challengers in 2019 and 2017, respectively.

Following April’s win at Rome and Sunday’s triumph in Tampere, Sumit Nagal also became the first Indian tennis player to win two ATP Challenger titles on European soil.

Sumit Nagal, who is India’s top-ranked men’s singles player at world No. 231, made a slow start to the match and was trailing world No. 193 Svrcina 4-1 in the first game. The Indian, however, rallied to turn things around to take the first set.

The Indian had to fend off a tough challenge from Svrinca to win the second set and secure the title in one hour and 44 minutes.

En route to the final, Sumit Nagal beat Czech Republic’s Jiri Vesely, Brazil’s JL Reis da Silva and Tunisia’s Mohamed Aziz Dougaz. In the semi-finals, the Indian survived a three-set affair against Spain’s Daniel Rincon by a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 scoreline.

Sumit Nagal is expected to play in Verona, Italy, next.