Indian tennis players Sumit Nagal and Dhakshineswar Suresh advanced to the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals at the Asian Games 2026 after registering wins in the second round on Tuesday.
Nagal defeated South Korea’s 2023 Asian Games bronze medallist Seongchan Hong 6-4, 6-0, while Suresh overcame Indonesia’s Gunawan Trismuwantara 7-5, 7-6(2) in a closely fought contest.
Nagal’s match against Hong had been suspended on Monday due to weather conditions, with the Indian leading 3-2 in the opening set. On resumption, Hong won the first eight points to move ahead 4-3, but the former world No. 68 Indian responded by winning nine consecutive games to take the set and close out the match.
Nagal had previously lost to Hong in the qualifying round of the ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells, going down 6-2, 2-6, 6-7(4).
The Indian had also endured a difficult outing against South Korea in the Davis Cup ahead of the Asian Games, losing both his singles matches in India’s 1-3 defeat. He was beaten by Hyeon Chung 6-2, 4-6, 5-7 and Soonwoo Kwon 1-6, 2-6.
Nagal will next face Uzbekistan’s Sergey Fomin in the next round.
Suresh, meanwhile, prevailed in a closely contested encounter on his Asian Games debut. He secured the opening set 7-5 after breaking Gunawan and maintained his composure to win the second-set tie-break 7-2.
The Indian was particularly effective on serve, winning 80 per cent of his first-serve points and 82 per cent on his second serve in the opening set. Gunawan won 72 per cent of his first-serve points and 33 per cent on his second.
Suresh continued to serve strongly in the second set, winning 85 per cent of points on his first serve and 86 per cent on his second, while Gunawan managed 70 per cent and 47 per cent, respectively.
(IANS Inputs)
