Sumit Nagal creates history; secures his spot at the French Open main draw in men's singles
On the back of recent consistent performances, India’s highest-ranked tennis star Sumit Nagal has secured his spot in the main draw at the French Open. The claycourt Grand Slam is scheduled to take place from May 20 to June 9.
Sumit Nagal becomes the first Indian since former number-one ranked Indian tennis player Prajnesh Gunneswaran (2019) to secure a spot in the main draw in men’s singles at the French Open. This move marks a significant milestone in Indian tennis history.
Most recently, the 93rd-ranked tennis player reached the second round at the ATP 250 Grand Priz Hassan II in Morocco after defeating Corentin Moutet from France. He eventually lost to Lorenzo Songeo from Italy in the pre-quarterfinals.
The 26-year-old tennis sensation also created history after making it to the second round in the main draw of the Monte-Carlos Masters tournament. He is currently facing Denmark’s Holger Rune, the previous year’s Masters 1000 runner-up, in the Round of 32.
Holger Rune dominated the first set, clinching a 6-3 win. Just when the second set was at 2-1 in favor of Rune, rain interrupted play and the contest was postponed to April 11, Thursday.
Earlier in the first round of the main draw, Sumit defeated world no. 38 Matteo Arnaldi from Italy with a scoreline of 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. Notably, Sumit became the third Indian player to secure a spot in the main draw at the Monte-Carlo Masters after Vijay Amritraj (1977) and Ramesh Krishnan (1982).
Sumit Nagal has been busy creating new milestones
Remarkably, Sumit Nagal has so far clinched five ATP Challenger Tour Titles in his career. He started his career with a Bengaluru Open title victory in 2017. Subsequently, he secured a win in Buenos Aires in 2019. Furthermore, he registered wins in Tampere and Rome in 2023. Chennai Open title win in 2024 is the latest entrant in his cabinet.
At the Monte-Carlos Masters, he became the first-ever Indian to win an ATP Masters 1000 match on a clay court since the competition was introduced in 1990.
The current champion in the French Open is Novak Djokovic, who beat Casper Ruud in the men’s singles 2023 final.