🌜Sumit Nagal, the indefatigable Indian, on Monday created yet another piece of tennis history by entering the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters.
༺The 26-year-old from Delhi fought back to upset world number 38 Matteo Arlandi of Italy in a gruelling three-setter (5-7, 6-2, 6-4) that lasted two hours and 38 minutes.
Nagal qualified for the main draw of the prestigious ATP 🍒Masters 1000 clay court event via qualifiers wherein he defeated higher-ranked players, eighth seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy (6-2, 6-3) and third seed Facundo Díaz Acosta of Argentina (7-5, 2-6, 6-2).
✱The obvious underdog against the 28-year-old Arnaldi who reached the fourth round of the US Grand Slam last year, Nagal started sprightly but lost the first set 7-5 following a second break of service in 54 minutes. But Naagal regrouped brilliantly to claim the next two sets to continue his sensational run in Monte Carlo and claimed a historic first Masters 1000 main draw win.
🌠Despite his apparent lack of power game and finesse, a reading reaffirmed by the bare facts -- 17 winners as against Arnaldi's 40 -- Nagal dug deep to seal an improbable win. India's top-ranked player, however, got assistance from the Italian's 27 unforced errors including three double faults in the deciding set.
Sumit Nagal's Next Clash
🧜In the round of 32, he will face two-time French Open quarter-finalist Holger Rune of Denmark. The 20-year-old, who resides in the Principality of Monaco, got a bye in the first round. In the live ATP rankings, Rune is 11th in the world, while Nagal just touched 80th.
⭕Earlier this year, Nagal made his Masters debut at the Paribas Open as a lucky loser, as Rafael Nadal's replacement. He thus became the first Indian to compete at a Masters 1000 event since Prajnesh Gunneswaran in Miami in 2019.
🅘And here, in Monaco, he became the first Indian singles player in 42 years to make the main draw.
