Sumit Nagal Becomes First Indian in 42 Years to Qualify for Monte-Carlo Masters Singles Main Draw

After battling his way past World No. 55 Facundo Diaz Acosta in the last qualifying round on Sunday, Sumit Nagal earned a spot in the Monte Carlo Masters main draw. Nagal showed his tenacity on clay courts by winning the match 7-5, 2-6, 6-2.

Nagal defeated Flavio Cobolli of Italy in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, in his previous qualifying encounter. With this accomplishment, Nagal becomes the first Indian player in forty-two years to get to the main draw of this esteemed clay-court competition; he did so in 1982 with Ramesh Krishnan.

Despite falling behind 2–5 in the opening set, Nagal showed incredible poise in the face of a stiff challenge from Acosta. He recovered to take the lead in the match with five straight games. In the decider, Nagal rallied after dropping the second set and saved his best for last to win.

Beginning with his noteworthy victory over Alexander Bublik in the Australian Open in January, Sumit Nagal has had an amazing year. He then won the Chennai Open and moved up into the top 100 in the ATP rankings. Nagal hit his career-high ranking of 95 earlier this week.

Nagal had made a valiant effort on Wednesday before losing in the Marrakech Open pre-quarterfinals for men’s singles. The Italian Lorenzo Sonego presented a formidable opponent for the Indian, who ultimately lost 6-1, 3-6, 4-6. Nagal struggled to sustain his lead against the 61st-ranked Italian, who proved to be a formidable opponent on clay courts, despite a good start.

Apart from Sumit Nagal, the top-seeded Australian duo Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden, who is an Australian, will also be competing in the prestigious clay tournament.

The team made an incredible start to the year as they won the Australian Open men’s doubles championship.

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