[Watch] Rohan Bopanna watches Sumit Nagal become the first Indian player to win Masters 1000 match on clay
Doubles World no.1 tennis player Rohan Bopanna graced his presence at Court des Princes as India’s number one ranked tennis star Sumit Nagal created history after defeating world no.38 Matteo Arnaldi from Italy in the first round of the Monte-Carlo Masters campaign.
In a viral video posted by Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on X (formerly Twitter), Bopanna can be seen enjoying the game as Sumit cruised to victory with a scoreline of 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.
Watch the clip here:
Sumit Nagal will next lock horns with Denmark’s Holger Rune on April 10, Wednesday. Interestingly, the World No. 7 Dane ended the previous Masters 1000 tournament as runner-up in April 2023.
It’s also important to note that the Indian tennis sensation 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).
Remarkably, the 26-year-old Nagal also became the first ever Indian to win an ATP Masters 1000 match on a clay court since the competition was introduced in 1990.
Nagal qualified for the main draw of the tournament 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. Moreover, Nagal has bagged five ATP Challenger Tour titles in his career so far.
After Sumit Nagal, Rohan Bopanna would be aiming to create history in Monte-Carlos
The No.1 ranked doubles pair Rohan Bopanna and Mathew Ebden will begin their Monte Carlo Masters 2024 competition, taking on the former World No. 1 pair of Mate Pavic and Marcelo Arevalo on April 10.
Notably, Mate Pavic and Marcelo Arevalo had a decent start in the first round of the campaign with a straight-sets win, 6-4, 6-4, over Grigor Dimitrov and Sebastian Korda.
The Indo-Australian began the season on an impressive note, lifting the Australian Open trophy. Interestingly, it is Bopanna’s first Grand Slam title in doubles, after securing a title win at the French Open Mixed Doubles in 2017.