Asian Games: Sumit Nagal, Dhakshineswar Suresh Advance to Singles Pre-Quarters

Nagal defeated South Korea's Seongchan Hong 6-4, 6-0, while Suresh overcame Indonesia's Gunawan Trismuwantara 7-5, 7-6 (2) in a closely contested encounter.

Nagal's match against Hong had been interrupted by weather on Monday with the Indian leading 3-2 in the opening set. When play resumed on Tuesday, Hong made an aggressive start and won the first eight points to move ahead 4-3.

The Indian, however, quickly regained control. The former World No. 68 won nine consecutive games to take the opening set 6-4 before completing a dominant second set without dropping a game.

The victory was particularly significant given Nagal's previous meeting with Hong. The South Korean had beaten him in the qualifying round of the ATP Masters 1000 event at Indian Wells, winning 6-2, 2-6, 6-7 (4).

Nagal also entered the Asian Games after a difficult Davis Cup outing against South Korea, having lost both of his singles matches in India's 1-3 defeat. He was beaten by Hyeon Chung 6-2, 4-6, 5-7 and later lost to Soonwoo Kwon 1-6, 2-6.

Nagal will next face Uzbekistan's Sergey Fomin in the Asian Games singles competition.

Suresh, meanwhile, marked his Asian Games debut with a hard-fought win over Gunawan. The Indian edged the first set 7-5 after securing a crucial break and maintained his composure to take the second set in a tiebreak, winning 7-2.

His serve proved particularly effective throughout the match. Suresh won 80 per cent of his first-serve points in the opening set and 82 per cent on his second serve.

He raised those numbers further in the second set, winning 85 per cent of points behind his first serve and 86 per cent on his second. Gunawan managed 70 per cent and 47 per cent respectively.

Both Indians will now look to build on their second-round victories as the men's singles draw moves into the knockout stages.