All posts tagged: Nardi

‘Lucky Loser’ Lucy Nardi Stuns Novak Djokovic In Indian Wells Upset

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Qualifying lucky loser Luca Nardi scored the biggest win of his young career on Monday, stunning world number one Novak Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 at the ATP-WTA Indian Wells Masters. The world number 123 from Italy ended the 11-match win streak of the veteran Serb at Masters events, with Nardi bettering the childhood tennis idol whose poster hung above his bed from the age of eight. The 20-year-old was not awed by the big game of Djokovic, and broke Djokovic for a 4-2 lead in the deciding set before pounding out the victory three games later with a match point ace. The Italian finished with 36 winners and 41 unforced errors while Djokovic had 31 errors in just under two and a half hours. “Before this night no-one knew me,” Nardi said in an on-court interview after his win. “I hope the crowd enjoyed the game; I’m super happy with this one.” Asked how he had pulled off the biggest win of his career, Nardi replied: “I don’t know. I think it really is a …

Ramkumar Ramanathan Shocks Top Seed Luka Nardi To Enter Quarterfinals

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Indian Davis Cupper Ramkumar Ramanathan made a remarkable comeback to shock top seeded Luka Nardi to enter the singles quarterfinals of the Bengaluru Open on Wednesday. Ramkumar, a wildcard entrant, prevailed over the Italian 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in little over two hours in their pre-quarterfinal match at the KSLTA Stadium. The match began on an ominous note for the Indian star as Nardi broke his serve in the very first game of the opening set. From that point onwards, Ramkumar was not able to offer any kind of fight to his higher-ranked opponent, who used a heavy first serve and precise ground shots to choke his opponent. While Nardi landed a whopping 86 percent of his first serve inside the box, Ramanathan barely managed to cross the 50 percent mark. But Ramkumar seemed a totally transformed player in the second set as he engaged Nardi more effectively in rallies, exploring the deeper areas of the court to keep the Italian pinned on the baseline. After the first four games went by the serve, …

Ramkumar upsets top seed Nardi to reach quarter-finals

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Ramkumar Ramanathan fought back impressively after losing the opening set to upset top seed Luca Nardi of Italy to reach the singles quarter-finals of the Bengaluru Open 2024 being played at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) Stadium on Wednesday. Ramkumar, who has been given a wild card for this tournament, looked down and out after the opening set but banked on his big serves to beat Nardi 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in an hour and 33 minutes in the second-round clash at Centre Court. Ramkumar kept his nerves when things were not going his way to register the biggest upset of the day. In the opening set, Ramkumar struggled to find his serving rhythm and conceded three breaks and that also affected his returning ability as Nardi raced through comfortably. However, the big serving Indian regrouped at the start of the second set and won 93% first serve points and never even faced a break point in the set. In contrast, Nardi’s serve was put under regular pressure to take the match in the …

Chennai Open: Sumit Nagal Sets Up Title Clash Against Italy’s Luca Nardi

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File photo of Sumit Nagal.© AFP India’s top-ranked tennis player Sumit Nagal overcame the challenge of Dalibor Svrcina, the third seed from Czech Republic, in straight sets to move into the final of the Chennai Open in Chennai on Saturday. The second-seeded Nagal defeated the 21-year-old Czech player 6-3, 6-4 in a match that lasted nearly two hours to set up a title clash with top seed Luca Nardi of Italy. The 20-year-old Nardi overcame stiff challenge from unseeded Chinese Taipei player Chun-Hsin Tseng 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6) in a marathon three-hour encounter. The 26-year-old Nagal was definitely the better player on the day, serving superbly in the first set and earning a whole lot of points on his second serve. In the second set, Nagal converted both the break points he earned even as his opponent committed a string of unforced errors. In an all-Indian men’s doubles final, Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan will take on country-mates Rithvik Bollipalli and Niki Poonacha later in the day. (Except for the headline, this story …