Sumit Nagal made history at the 2024 Australian Open by defeating the 27th-ranked player, Alexander Bublik, in the opening round. Nagal, who secured his spot in the main draw through the qualifiers, claimed the first set 6-4 and continued his dominance in the second set with a 6-2 victory, securing a 2-0 lead. Despite Bublik’s efforts in the third set, Nagal’s superior performance proved too much. The hard-fought third set, culminating in a tiebreak, saw the 137th-ranked Indian player emerge victorious, advancing to the second round.
#WATCH | India's Sumit Nagal beats No. 31 seed Alexander Bublik 6-4 6-2 7-6(5) at the Australian Open.
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— ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2024
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Securing a spot in the main draw of the Australian Open, Sumit Nagal earned this achievement by defeating Alex Molcan in the qualifying final the previous week. Currently ranked as the 139th player in the world for singles, this marks Nagal’s second appearance in the main draw of the season’s initial Grand Slam, with his previous entry in 2021 resulting in a first-round loss to Ricardas Berankis from Lithuania in a match that ended 2-6, 5-7, 3-6. Following that, until this year, no Indian player had managed to reach the singles main draw.
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Nagal has previously qualified for the main draw of the US Open in both 2019 and 2020. In the 2019 US Open, he notably challenged the legendary Roger Federer, pushing the match to four sets before ultimately losing 6-4, 1-6, 2-6, 4-6. The following year, he advanced to the second round of the US Open, defeating Bradley Klahn in the first round with a score of 6-1, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Additionally, in men’s doubles, Yuki Bhambri and his Dutch partner Robin Haase were scheduled to face Brazil’s Rafael Matos and Colombia’s Nicolás Barrientos on Court 12.
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