Picture Credit: Twitter
On Sunday in Rome, India’s Sumit Nagal won his first ATP Challenger Tour championship in nearly four years. The Indian had actually failed to qualify for the tournament, in the direct draws, but the world number 347 beat Jesper De Jong to enter the top 300. The match, which was played for an hour and 42 minutes, the 25-year-old Indian defeated Dutchman De Jong, who is ranked No. 234 in the world, 6-3, 6-2. The young Indian has had a career-high ranking of 122. He has qualified for the second round in five out of this nine series. He defeated Joris de Loor in the semi-finals with a score of 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 which went on for 2 hours 31 minutes.
Sumit Nagal is the first ever Indian to win a challenger trophy title on European clay. Last year, Sumit missed most of the season after sustaining a hip injury. He first gained acclaim as a teenager when he and his Vietnamese partner L Hoàng Nam won the boys Wimbledon doubles title in 2015. In the opening round of the US Open in 2019, Nagal made a big impression on his main draw Grand Slam debut by defeating Roger Federer in one set. He ultimately dropped the match 6-4,1-6, 2-6, 4-6.
The 25-year-old has eleven titles to his name till date. He has won eight Futures competitions and three Challenger competitions. Only three of those 11 victories—all on clay courts—have been achieved on hard courts.
