Tennis
Sumit Nagal qualifies for main draw of Australian Open 2024
Sumit Nagal defeated Slovakia's Alex Molcan in straight sets to mark his return to the main draw of the Australian Open after three years.
Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal in action at the Australian Open.
India's top-ranked men's singles player Sumit Nagal qualified for the main round of the Australian Open on Friday after winning the final round of the qualification round.
The 26-year-old defeated Alex Molcan of Slovakia 6-4, 6-4 in straight sets to book his berth in the main of the Grand Slam event for the first time since 2021.
Nagal will face World No.31 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the first round of the Australian Open.
Earlier in the qualification round, Nagal defeated Australian Edward Winter, a wild card, in the second qualifying match 6-3, 6-2 that lasted one hour and four minutes at the KIA Arena.
In the first round of qualifiers on Wednesday, January 10, the 26-year-old secured a victory over France’s Geoffrey Blancaneaux, spending an hour and 46 minutes on Court 8 to win the match 6-3, 7-5.
Currently 139th in the singles world ranking, Nagal made it to the main round of the US Open in 2019 and 2020 and then featured in the Australian Open main draw in 2021.
Nagal faced an opening-round defeat with a scoreline of 2-6, 5-7, 3-6 against Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis in the 2021 Australian Open.
The Indian marked his grand slam main draw debut in the 2019 US Open when he faced Roger Federer in his opening round match and managed to take the first set against the Swiss legend before losing the match 6-4, 1-6, 2-6, 4-6.
