Nagal had his chances, particularly in the second set, but failed to capitalise as Chung prevailed 6-4 4-6 7-5 to give Korea a 2-0 lead after Dhakshineswar Suresh lost 6-3 3-6 4-6 to Soonwoo Kwon.
India’s Sumit Nagal conceded that Hyeon Chung was the better player on the day as the Korean comeback man prevailed in a gruelling three-hour battle, with the Indian also pointing to the “dead” nature of the court and low bounce as factors that made it difficult to hurt a defensive opponent in the Davis Cup tie on Friday.
Sumit Nagal had his chances, particularly in the second set, but failed to capitalise as Hyeon Chung prevailed 6-4 4-6 7-5 to give Korea a 2-0 lead
“It gets a little bit tough when the ball is a little bit old to make the ball move, and I felt like he did that job better than me today. I will try not to repeat my mistakes in tomorrow’s match,” he said. “It was a long day. I was expecting a tough match and it was a tough match. I had chances in the second set. I didn’t close it down. “I mean, the speed is okay. It’s a little bit dead, the conditions. “I had to make sure that the fans watch what they wanted to watch. “I realised that probably I was rushing a bit much.
“I could say I had a chance at 15-30 in one of the games in the third set.
I went for it, missed it, and then from there the match pretty much changed,” Nagal said after the match. It’s not easy to hurt if somebody is very good at defence, and I felt like Chung played pretty good defence,” he said. The Indian said the outcome ultimately hinged on fine margins, with both players having battled physically and mentally through a demanding deciding set. I feel like if I don’t miss that forehand, it could be another set or match,” Nagal said. Also, I played for coaches who are working on my game after my comeback,” Chung said.
