Nagal failed to capitalise on seven match points as he exited the ATP Challenger 125 event. Dhakshineswar Suresh and Manas Dhamne progressed.
India’s No. 1 singles player Sumit Nagal crashed out of the Bengaluru Open 2026 tennis tournament in the second round after losing a gruelling battle against second seed Harold Mayot of France at the KSLTA Stadium on Wednesday.
Sumit Nagal failed to capitalise on seven match points as he went down 7(7)-6(2), 1-6, 7(13)-6(11) against Mayot.
The Frenchman broke early in the opening set, but Nagal responded with trademark resolve, clawing back the break two games later to force a tie-break.
It was there that Mayot raised his level, using sustained pressure to take the opener. Nagal then shifted tactics in the second set, frequently approaching the net to disrupt rhythm and breaking Mayot early before racing through the set with authority.
The third set turned into a war of attrition with Nagal producing a series of spectacular returns that forced Mayot to stretch and scramble.
Both players pushed their limits to stay even, leading to another tie-break where Nagal’s hard hitting forehand earned him an early edge.
However, fatigue caught up late and Mayot’s solid defence and composure under pressure ultimately sealed the contest in three hours and nine minutes.
Earlier in the day, Manas Dhamne progressed to the third round after beating higher-ranked Beibit Zhukayev of Kazakhstan.
The 18-year-old wildcard Dhamne, 556th in the ATP rankings, overcame world No. 277 Beibit Zhukayev 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to enter the quarter-finals.
The Indian tennis player set the tone early with sharp movement and anticipation, allowing him to neutralise Zhukayev’s power and take the first set comfortably.
Zhukayev struck back in the second as his big serve began to find its range, swinging momentum in his favour.
However, as the match wore on, Dhamne steadily read the patterns better and by the third set, Zhukayev ran out of answers as the Indian piled on the pressure from the back of the court with consistency and control to clinch victory.
Elsewhere, Dhakshineswar Suresh beat France’s Felix Balshaw 6-3, 1-6, 7(7)-6(4) in a dramatic three-set encounter.
The 25-year-old pocketed the opening set with the help of his trademark big serves and solid baseline play.
Balshaw responded strongly as his one-handed backhand and serve began to fire in the second set, capitalising on Suresh’s dip in energy.
The deciding set was a tense, neck-and-neck affair. After being broken late, the Indian showed remarkable resilience, striking deep, well-placed returns to break back and force a tie-break.
In the tie-breaker, Suresh absorbed early pressure before pinning Balshaw into the corners to pull away and seal the win.
Top seed Pedro Martinez, Kazakhstan’s Timofey Skatov, Germany’s Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, Czechia’s Jonas Forejtek and Frenchman Matteo Martineau also won their matches on Wednesday to advance to the singles quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Indian duo SD Prajwal Dev and Nitin Kumar Sinha progressed to the last eight in the doubles draw along with top seeds Sriram Balaji of India and Australia’s Neil Oberleitner.
The Netherland’s Max Houkes and Niels Visker and the duo of Petr Bar Biryukov and Grigoriy Lomakin also qualified for the doubles quarter-finals.
The Bengaluru Open tennis tournament will conclude on January 10.
READ MORE: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/bengaluru-open-2026-tennis-day-3-report
