Sumit Nagal bows out of Marrakech Open after pre-quarters defeat
India's top-ranked male tennis player Sumit Nagal bowed out of the Marrakech Open, an ATP 250 event, in Morocco on Wednesday, April 3. He suffered a defeat in the pre-quarters against Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.
Sumit began his clay season with a win over Corentin Moutet from France in the Round of 32 with a scoreline of 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. However, he had to face a defeat in the Round of 16 in three sets.
The 95th ranked player started off the game with a 6-1 win in the first set. However, the 61st-ranked Italian Sonego came back stronger, displaying his class and experience on clay courts to secure the second and decider sets 6-3 and 6-4.
Sumit Nagal was aiming to reach the quarterfinals of a Tour-level event for only the second time in his career. Interestingly, the Indian lost to the Italian for the second consecutive time after he suffered a defeat in the round of 32 match at the Dubai Tennis Championships 2024 in February 4-6, 7-5, and 1-6.
Moving to the men’s doubles category, India’s Yuki Bhambri and his partner Albano Olivetti secured a 6-3, 6-4 win over the Dutch-Greek pair of Bart Stevens and Petros Tsitsipas in the pre-quarterfinals.
The Indo-Frech duo will now take on Colombia’s Nicolas Barrientos and Brazil’s Rafael Matos in the quarter-final.
Sumit Nagal achieved his career-best ranking
On April 1, Monday, Sumit achieved his career-high ranking of 95. His previous best was 97 in February 2024 after winning the Chennai Open, an ATP Challenger series event.
Sumit Nagal grabbed the spotlight after making it to the main draw of the Australian Open earlier this year in January. He also became the first Indian to defeat a seeded player Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan before losing in the second round to China’s Shang Juncheng.
After his good show in the Australian Open, Sumit competed in the Chennai Open, ATP 500 Dubai Championship, and ATP 1000 Masters in Indian Wells and Miami.