Paris: Sumit Nagal stuck to his strong baseline game but that didn’t seem to be enough against mercurial Frenchman Corentin Moutet, who knocked out the Indian from the Paris Olympics 2024 with a stylish three-set win, Sunday. In his second appearance at the Olympic Games, Nagal bounced back after losing the first set but fell 2-6, 6-4, 5-7 in two hours and 28 minutes at a packed court seven at the Roland Garros.
In the Tokyo Games, Nagal had lost in the second round to Russian Daniil Medvedev but could not make the most of a manageable opener today. He was up 2-0 in the decider with an early break but allowed Moutet to claw his way back and win. It has always been a battle of attrition between Nagal and Moutet with three of their last four outings being three-set affairs and it was no different today.
Nagal had defeated Moutet in their last meeting in Grand Prix of Hassan in the Moroccan city of Marakkech in April this year. “He is one of the most talented players we have on the ATP tour. It’s always a tough match against him. It has never been a straight set win for either him or me. Today was another great match,” Nagal told PTI after the match.
“Obviously, I didn’t like the way I ended the match, getting broken at 15 and then him holding at love. “I would say, too many errors towards the end. That’s one of the things that I would really like to change,” he said.
Nagal didn’t seem to have a plan B but Moutet had a few tricks in his bag to unsettle his rival. He served underarm a number of times and used the drop shots, the forehand and backhand slices very effectively. The chants of Coco-Coco, Aaale-Aaale and Moutet-Moutet certainly gave the home player the energy required in such a slugfest.
“The atmosphere is crazy, you feel like it’s on your face. But I don’t think that was the reason, I would say, that I ended up losing.The errors came from me and myself,” said Nagal. Nagal had a nervy start with a boisterous crowd behind Moutet. A drop volley error at 30-all put him down by a break point. Another unforced error cost him the opening game.
The French player began with an underarm serve, much to the amusement of the home fans. He however, ended up serving a double fault. It was an easy hold for the southpaw even as Nagal also bounced back with a hold at love.
“I use it as a weapon. Whether I take points with an ace or underarm serve, I will do that. It’s another point of view if it’s called ugly,” Moutet said when asked if he likes winning points in that style. Nagal said he was expecting underarm serves from him but obviously didn’t appreciate that.
“He has amazing hands. He is a very good fighter. It (underarm serve) is ugly because you are not used to it but if he is winning points in matches like this, I don’t think he is going to mind it.” Moutet struggled a bit with his first serve but fed Nagal a lot of high balls and attacked his backhand more to build on the break. Nagal had his chances to get the break back in game four but squandered four breakpoints. He was down by another break point in game five but saved and held when Moutet just missed the line with his return.
The crowd favourite again amused the supporters at court seven as he crossed over the court to check the spot if the ball landed inside the line. It was crucial for Nagal to hold serve after falling behind 2-4 but he erred on overhead volley at breakpoint.
Moutet pocketed the opening set when Nagal’s forehand return soared over the baseline. The second set was not a one-way traffic with Nagal finding his rhythm. The free points were not given. The set remained in serve till game five.
After playing two deuce points, Moutet again served underarm, and this time he got the point as Nagal netted the return. Nagal finally had his first break of the match when Moutet’s dropped shot crashed into the net.
Before that on the second break point, when he netted the return, Nagal had banged his racquet on the court, letting go of the frustration. However, he gathered himself with the crucial break. The crowd stood and began singing the French national anthem to egg on their favourite.
Nagal, though, consolidated the lead with a hold and levelled the match by breaking his rival in game eight when Moutet netted a volley return. The French player yet again resorted to giving high balls and drop shots to Nagal to break the momentum, and almost succeeded, but Nagal too stuck to his guns, avoiding an early break.
He then broke Moutet when he double faulted while facing his fourth break point. Leading 2-0 in the decider, Nagal had a perfect opportunity to run away with the match but found himself down 0-40. He saved the first breakpoint but a drive volley error from him meant that the set was back on serve.
Serving at 5-5, Nagal began by netting a forehand, and Moutet found a stunning forehand slice passing-winner on the run. Another forehand error put Nagal down by three break points. He lost fourth point in a row when he could not pick up a half volley. It was not difficult from there for Moutet to close the match. He will play either Australian world number six Alex di Minaur or Germany’s Jan-Lenard Struff.
