3 Indians competing in Shanghai Masters 2024 ft. Sumit Nagal
Indian tennis stars are gearing up for the second last ATP 10000 Masters event of the season, the Shanghai Masters 2024. The tournament will be held from 30 September to 13 October, with the main draw being played from 2 October.
Sumit Nagal and Ramkumar Ramanathan will represent India in the singles event, while India veteran ace Rohan Bopanna will take part in the doubles event with Croatian tennis star Ivan Dodig. Let's take a deeper look at the players and their recent form.
Ramkumar Ramanathan
Currently ranked 335 in the singles category, Ramkumar Ramanathan will take on 140th-ranked Ugo Blanchet in the qualifiers as he looks to make his way into the main draw of the Shanghai Masters, However, he has not been in good form lately.
Ramanathan has lost all ten of the last games he played. His most recent was a 2-1 loss to the Australian John Fancutt. Prior to this, he lost in straight sets to Switzerland's Leo Borg in the Davis Cup 2024.
Sumit Nagal
India's top-ranked men's single's player Sumit Nagal is set to make his debut in the Shanghai Masters 2024. He will be the first Indian to feature in the men's singles main draw since Somdev Devvarman. This marks Nagal's third ATP Masters 1000 main draw appearance of 2024, following his runs at Indian Wells and Monte-Carlo.
In Monte-Carlo, Nagal made history as the first Indian in 42 years to qualify for the main draw and the first to win a match there, eventually losing to World No. 7 Holger Rune.
Currently ranked 82nd in the world, Nagal will begin his Shanghai Masters campaign against China's Wu Yibing, ranked 564. However, he will be coming off a back injury that saw him withdraw from the US Open double as well as from the Davis Cup.
Rohan Bopanna
Indian veteran tennis ace Rohan Bopanna is set to take part in the Shanghai Masters 2024 men's doubles. He will be partnered with Croatian tennis star Ivan Dodig instead of Matthew Ebden. Bopanna and Ebden finished as runners-up in the Shanghai Masters last year after losing to Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos 7-6, 2-6, 7-10.
Bopanna, who is ranked 5th in doubles, has not won a tournament since the Miami Open 2024. Partnering with 25th-ranked Dodig, he crashed out of the China Open in the round of 16 after losing in straight sets to Francisco Cerundolo and Nicolas Jarry. He earlier bowed out of the US Open men's and mixed doubles as well.