Mumbai, May 28 -- In what was his first main draw appearance at the French Open, India's Sumit Nagal gave a decent account of himself.
He ran hard as he usually does, dictated points with his forehand every now and then, and even threatened to stage a dramatic fightback. But it wasn't quite enough as 18th seed Karen Khachanov defeated him 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 (5) in the opening round on Monday.
Having reached a career-high ranking of 80 in April, this was the first time Nagal was competing in the main draw of a Grand Slam without needing a wild card or the qualifiers route. Ranked 95 now, and playing on his preferred surface, he would have been hopeful of earning his third win at a Major. But Khachanov proved too powerful through the two hours a...