Sumit Nagal made India’s comeback after trailing in the second singles match in the Davis Cup 2023 World Group Playoff match against Denmark in Hillerod on Friday.

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In the first match, Yuki Bhambri was defeated by world number nine player Holger Rune 6-2, 6-2. Yuki lost in 58 minutes against a tough opponent. Meanwhile, India’s number one player Sumit Nagal defeated August Holmgren 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a match that lasted two hours and 27 minutes. Nagal, ranked 506 in the world, lost the first set against his 484-ranked opponent. In the first set, he was not in rhythm and was struggling against the opposing player. As a result, he lost the first set 4-6.

Sumit made a great comeback in the match after losing the first set. After this, he did not give any chance to August to recover. Coming back in the second set, he made a 5-2 lead. After that, he won the set in the ninth game to take the match to the deciding set. Sumit won the second set 6-3 and the last set 6-4. In the last two sets, he put his full experience and won the match. In the deciding set, he won by maintaining his rhythm and winning the match as well as winning the set.

Doubles and reverse singles matches of Davis Cup 2023 will be played on Saturday. If India loses then the they will slip into group two. With one win and one loss, India will enter the second day needing to win at least two of the three remaining matches to win the five-match World Group I play-off tie. The Indian tennis team will need to win the tie to stay in the Davis Cup 2023 World Group I stage.

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On Saturday, Indian veteran Rohan Bopanna and Yuki Bhambri will team up for the doubles against Christian Sigsgaard and Johannes Ingildsen. Sumit Nagal and Yuki Bhambri will face Holger Rune and August Holmgren, respectively, in the reverse singles rubbers.