The 26-year-old Nagal, who broke in the world top-100 with a title triumph in Chennai last week, was clinical in his service games and exploited his opponent's second serves to win the singles opening round clash 6-2, 6-2.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Indian star, seeded second here, earned a total of eight breakpoints in the opening set and converted two of them before pocketing the set with a comfortable hold in the eighth game.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
With the momentum in his favour, Nagal broke Blancaneaux in the very first game of the second set to set the tone. His serve came under pressure for the first time in the fourth game of the second set but Nagal saved three break points to ultimately take a 3-1 lead and then sailed to victory in an hour and 28 minutes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Nagal will now take on Hong Kong\u2019s Coleman Wong, who defeated Rafael Collignon of Belgium 6-4, 7-6(4) in the prestigious tournament being organised by Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In the day\u2019s other matches, former World No.25 Canada\u2019s Vasek Pospisil survived a scare in the opening round while Australian former Top-20 ranked Bernard Tomic failed to advance despite a strong start in his first-round clash against Tristan Boyer of USA.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Pospisil, who has been given a wildcard in the competition, got the better of qualifier Eric Vanshelboim of Ukraine 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4 in two hours 38 minutes while the 31-year-old Tomic, who came through qualifying, went down 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 against an opponent nine years younger than him.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In the doubles category, India\u2019s wild card entrants Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta and Manish Sureshkumar went down 2-6, 6-7 (8) against the French combination of Constantin Kouzmine and Maxime Janvier in the ATP Challenger event, which began on Monday and will conclude on January 18.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Key Results:<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Singles: 1-Luca Nardi (Ita) bt Dan Added (Fra) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (0); 4-Benjamin Bonzi (Fra) bt Philip Sekulic (Aus) 6-3, 6-2; Tristan Boyer (USA) bt Bernard Tomic (Aus) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3; Vasek Pospisil (Can) bt Eric Vanshelboim (Ukr) 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Doubles: Constantin Kouzmine\/Maxime Janvier (Fra) bt Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta\/Manish Sureshkumar (Ind) 2-6, 6-7 (8).<\/p>\r\n\r\n", "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bengaluru-open-2024-indias-sumit-nagal-makes-a-strong-start-karteek-reddymanish-sureshkumar-out.jpg", "alt_img": "Bengaluru Open 2024: India\u2019s Sumit Nagal makes a strong start; Karteek Reddy\/Manish Sureshkumar out", "alt_title": "Bengaluru Open 2024: India\u2019s Sumit Nagal makes a strong start; Karteek Reddy\/Manish Sureshkumar out", "image1": null, "video": null, "seo_title": "Bengaluru Open 2024: India\u2019s Sumit Nagal Makes A Strong Start; Karteek Reddy\/Manish Sureshkumar Out On Cricketnmore", "seo_desc": "Bengaluru Open 2024: India\u2019s Sumit Nagal Makes A Strong Start; Karteek Reddy\/Manish Sureshkumar Out, Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association: Home favourite and top singles player Sumit Nagal made a dominating start to his Bengaluru.", "seo_keywords": "Sumit Nagal, Karteek Reddy, Manish Sureshkumar, Bengaluru Open, Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association, Geoffrey Blancaneax, The Indian, Hong Kong, Coleman Wong, Rafael Collignon, World No, Vasek Pospisil, Bernard Tomic, Tristan Boyer, Eric", "tag": "", "tagging": "Sumit Nagal, Karteek Reddy, Manish Sureshkumar, Bengaluru Open, Geoffrey Blancaneax, The Indian, Hong Kong, Coleman Wong, Rafael Collignon, World No, Vasek Pospisil, Bernard Tomic, Tristan Boyer", "status": "1", "img_rpt": "0", "google": "1", "standout": "0", "edapps": "0", "pulse": "0", "no_index": "0", "feed": "0", "fixture": null, "slug": "bengaluru-open-2024-indias-sumit-nagal-makes-a-strong-start-karteek-reddymanish-sureshkumar-out", "user_id": "0", "read_count": "0", "ians_date": null, "ians_time": null, "server_time": null, "trash": "0", "view_count": "689", "page_break": "0", "instant_articles": "1", "auto_link": "0", "created": "2024-02-13 21:10:03", "updated": "2024-02-13 21:10:03", "img_from": "Image Source: IANS", "img_source": null, "schedule_publish": null, "news_keywords": "Sumit Nagal, Karteek Reddy, Manish Sureshkumar, Bengaluru Open, Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association, Geoffrey Blancaneax, The Indian, Hong Kong, Coleman Wong, Rafael Collignon, World No, Vasek Pospisil, Bernard Tomic, Tristan Boyer, Eric", "livescore_text": null, "livescore_link": null, "btn_text": null, "resend_feed": "1", "google_feed": "1", "read_more": "0", "posted_by": "23", "jio_date": "2024-02-13 21:10:03", "scheduled": "0", "news_now": "0", "breaking_news": "0", "google_date": null, "featured": "0", "sports_name": "tennis", "cnmid": "866180", "link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/sports-news\/bengaluru-open-2024-indias-sumit-nagal-makes-a-strong-start-karteek-reddymanish-sureshkumar-out-13185" }