Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal notched up a straight-set win over home favourite Facundo Bognis to claim the men's singles title at the USD 54,160 ATP Challenger Tournament here.
The 22-year-old from Haryana, seeded seventh, outclassed 8th seed Bognis of Argentina 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 37 minutes to win the title.
Having played Roger Federer in the opening round of the US Open, this is his first ATP Challenger Series title of the season and second overall. With this win, he made a jump of 26 places to achieve a career-best ranking of 135.
He had won his maiden Challenger crown in 2017 after defeating Jay Clarke of Great Britain in Bengaluru.
Nagal, who entered Argentina ranked 161, had eased past World No. 108 Thiago Monteiro of Brazil 6-0, 6-1 in the semifinal.
In the Round of 32, the 22-year-old had come from behind to defeat Brazilian Pedro Sakamoto 6-7, 6-4, 6-3. After that, he went past Jose Hernandez-Fernandez of Dominican Republic 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. In the quarterfinals, Nagal had defeated local Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to make it to the last four.
"Brilliant performance @nagalsumit and I extend hearty Congratulations on Winning ATP Buenos Aires Challenger Title. Sumit Nagal will enter Top 135 in Rankings!," Sport minister Kiren Rijiju wrote on his twitter handle.
Earlier in August, Nagal was hailed for his gritty show against 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer even as he went down 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in a match that lasted two hours and 30 minutes.
It was for the first time since 2003 that Federer had lost a set in his first-round match at the US Open.
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