Sumit Nagal becomes first Indian player to win on clay court in Masters 1000

On Monday, Sumit Nagal became the first Indian player to win a match in the Masters 1000 tournament on a clay court. Sumit Nagal defeated Matteo Arnaldi of Italy as he came from behind. He won the first round at the Monte Carlo Masters by a score of 6-7, 6-2, 6-4. Sumit Nagal becomes only the third Indian after Vijay Amritraj in 1977 and Ramesh Krishnan in 1982 to get a feature in the main draw of Monte Carlo Masters. He became the first-ever ATP Masters 1000 to win the match on a clay court since 1990.

With Monday’s win, Sumit Nagal lept to the 80th in rank, which is his career high. In the current season, this was his second win and overall, his third win over a top-50 player. In January 2024, he won against Alexander Bublik in the Australian Open in Melbourne and in March 2021 at the Argentina, Open he won against Chilean Cristian Garin. 

The opening set was evenly matched, with both players breaking each other once. Nagal, who was serving to remain in the set, dropped his serve in the 12th game after Arnaldi attacked his first serve. However, Nagal remained unconcerned and broke his opponent twice in the second set to take a commanding 4-1 lead. In game six, his serve was under pressure, but he held and took out the set, forcing a deciding.

Milestones are nice - Sumit Nagal

As per Sportstar, “Milestones are nice. I played a really good match. Unfortunately, I didn’t win the first set even though I felt I was playing good tennis. Hats off to Arnaldi for it. In the second and third set, I think I played at a high level, did the things that I wanted to do and was able to finish the match with a good service game,” said Nagal after the win.

Nagal defeated world number 63 Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the qualifying tournament. On Tuesday 9th April, he will play against Hoger Runne of Denmark in the next round. Ahead of the French Open which starts from May 20, Sumit Nagal will look to stay in form.