Bagel in Tennis: Meaning & Sumit Nagal Example

Bengaluru. Indian player Sumit Nagal made a brilliant comeback after facing a bagel in the first set without winning any game. But could not maintain his rhythm and lost the opening singles match against Guy de Oden of Netherlands in the first round of Davis Cup qualifiers on Saturday. With this, India fell behind 0-1 in the match. Nagal had to face defeat 0-6, 6-4, 3-6 in a tough match that lasted two hours and 28 minutes. Now the responsibility of bringing India back into the competition lies with Dakshineswar Suresh, who has to face Netherlands’ number one and 73rd world ranking Jesper de Jong.

In the world of tennis, the word ‘bagel’ is used when a player wins a set by a score of 6-0. Just as an eaten bagel is round (like a zero), the appearance of ‘0’ on the losing player’s scoreboard gives it its name.

Nagal looked under complete pressure in the first set. De Oden lost only one point on his serve and won the set in 38 minutes. The Netherlands player held serve without losing any points in the opening game and immediately put pressure on Nagal. Despite a lead of 40-0, Nagal lost his serve by committing two double faults and several unforced errors. Nagal faltered again. In the next service game, due to forehand mistakes, many break points were given, due to which the Netherlands player got a strong lead of 4-0. Nagal saved one set point while serving to stay in the set, but lost the next and lost the set 0-6 in front of the home crowd.

Sumit Nagal made a tremendous comeback after facing the bagel but he could not maintain the momentum.

Nagal showed more fighting spirit in the second set. He won the opening service game without losing any points. Both players kept saving serve till the seventh game. After losing three break points, Nagal took advantage of the fourth opportunity and played aggressively. Encouraged by this lead, Nagal served without losing any point and took a lead of 5-3 and easily won the set and leveled the match at 1-1. The decisive third set was very exciting.

In the second game, Nagal lost his serve when he missed a forehand volley while moving fast towards the net. Later he got five break points, capitalizing one of which he remained in the match. But in the decisive moments De Oden again took the lead. Then Netherlands got the decisive break and won the match when Nagal hit a backhand volley into the net. After this, De Oden won the match by serving and gave Netherlands a 1-0 lead. The winner of this match will advance to the second round of qualifiers to be held in September, while the losing team will play in World Group One.