Sumit Nagal shocks World No. 27 Alexander Bublik to advance to second round in Australian Open 2024
Indian tennis ace Sumit Nagal staged a massive upset against World No.27 Alexander Bublik in Round 1 of the Australian Open 2024 at the 1573 Arena of Melbourne Park on Tuesday, January 16. He won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(5), to advance to the second round.
Bublik lacked intensity in the first two sets while Nagal was prolific with his forehand game and swayed away the drop shots. The pressure mounted to such an extent that the World No. 27 smashed his racket in the second set, and consequently ruptured it.
Nagal eased past in the second set, though after dropping three set points thanks to a double fault from Bublik. The third set wasn't as easy as compared to the first two.
Sumit Nagal was challenged after the Russian-born Kazakh player brought life into his shots and held on to his serve to lead at 3-2, later extending it to 6-5. But the top-ranked Indian player also maintained his composure to enforce a tie-breaker. He swiveled around the left corner to win the first two points, and a sensational return extended his lead to 4-1.
Though at 6-3, Sumit Nagal was in the driver's seat with three match points, Bublik picked two straight points in the prolonged rallies before another double fault from him confirmed the Indian's memorable win.
Sumit Nagal become first Indian to upset a seeded player after 35 years
World No.137 Sumit Nagal defeated a higher-ranked opponent in the 31st-seeded Alexander Bublik, also known as Sasha Bublik in the tennis fraternity.
Nagal became the first Indian player to get the better of a seeded player in a Grand Slam event in 35 years, and that too against someone ranked more than 100 positions above him. Former Indian player Ramesh Krishnan was the last to trounce a seeded player in a Major.
Krishnan did so at the 1989 Australian Open, where he shocked the then World No.1 Mats Wilander in the second round. Interestingly, he ended his storied career with four wins against seeded players in Grand Slam events.
Sumit Nagal also became the first Indian to progress to the second round of the Australian Open since Somdev Devvarman reached that mark in 2013 after cruising past Germany's Bjorn Phau in the first round, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.