Sumit Nagal rises to career-best ranking of 80 in men's singles
After his brilliant performance in the recent Monte-Carlo Masters 2024, Indian tennis sensation Sumit Nagal ascended 13 spots to the 80th rank in the latest ATP Rankings released on April 15, Monday.
Notably, in the overall historic ATP Rankings, Sumit Nagal is the seventh highest-ranked Indian in men’s singles after Vijay Amritraj (Ranked 18 in 1980), Ramesh Krishnan (Ranked 23 in 1985), Somdev Devvarman (Ranked 62 in 2011), Sashi Menon (Ranked 71 in 1975), Anand Amritraj (Ranked 74 in 1974) and Prajnesh Gunneswaran (Ranked 75 in 2019).
Remarkably, Sumit Nagal qualified for the second round of the main draw in the Monte-Carlo Masters 2024 after defeating World No. 38 Matteo Arnaldi from Italy in the first round by prevailing on top with a scoreline of 5-7, 6-2, and 6-4.
Nevertheless, after Indian tennis star became the first ever player from the country to win an ATP Masters 1000 match on a clay court since the competition was introduced in 1990.
In the second round, Nagal took on the seventh-seeded and 2023 runner-up Holger Rune from Denmark. Unfortunately, Nagal had to face a defeat in the hard-fought three-set contest with a scoreline of 3-6, 6-3 and 2-6.
The remarkable rise of Sumit Nagal
It’s also important to note that India’s current best-ranked player in men’s singles 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).
Notably, Sumit Nagal qualified for the main draw of the clay court campaign after clinching a win over 55th-ranked Facundo Diaz Acosta from Argentina in the second and final round of the qualifying draw with a scoreline of 7-5, 2-6, and 6-2.
Nagal has so far bagged five ATP Challenger Tour Titles in his career. He began his career with a Bengaluru Open title win in 2017. Subsequently, he registered a title win in Buenos Aires in 2019. Moving further, he registered wins in Tampere and Rome in 2023. Most recently, Nagal bagged a title win in the Chennai Open in 2024.
In the other rankings, Rohan Bopanna lost his No.1 ranking to his partner Matthew Ebden after losing the round 16 game to Mate Pavic and Marcelo Arevalo in the Monte-Carlo Masters 2024.