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Indian tennis superstar Sumit Nagal was included in the list of men's singles competitors for the prestigious Wimbledon later this year. Nagal will be the first Indian to play at the Championships in five years. Before 26-year-old from Jhajjar, Chennai native Prajnesh Gunneswaran was the last Indian to play in this Grand Slam in 2019.
In his professional career, Nagal has played at Wimbledon once before. In 2018, the 26-year-old was in the qualifying rounds and suffered a straight-sets defeat to Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak. But as a junior player, Nagal won the Wimbledon Boys’ Doubles title in 2015 with his Vietnamese partner Nam Hoang Ly. With this feat, he became the sixth Indian ever to win a Junior Grand Slam title.
Sumit Nagal's historic 2024 continues
This qualification for the Championships is another milestone in Sumit Nagal's dream run in 2024. The Jhajjar native started the year by qualifying for the main draw of the Australian Open in January and defeating Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan. He emerged victorious in the Chennai Open before playing two more Challenger competitions and qualifying for the Dubai Championship (ATP 500) and two ATP 1000 Masters - Indian Wells and Miami.
Sumit Nagal then created history by reaching the Monte Carlo Masters main draw and then became the first Indian player to reach the second round of the tournament at the Court des Princes. The 26-year-old fought back from being a set down, to defeat the Italian Matteo Arnaldi in a hard-fought battle in the first round 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. But in the Round of 32 clash, Nagal lost to Holger Rune. After a strong display in Monte Carlo, Nagal also confirmed qualification to the main draw of the upcoming French Open.
