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The 137th ranked Indian tennis star Sumit Nagal became the first player from the country to enter the second round of the ongoing Australian Open 2024 after 11 years. The 26-year-old stunned World No. 31 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(7-5) in a match which lasted for two hours and 38 minutes.
Speaking after his round one win at the Australian Open 2024, the Indian spoke of changing the system of tennis in the country. “If you look at it, there was a time where we had a lot of singles players in the slams. I feel like we are missing quite a bit in the last few years, and my goal is to change that in the next years. When I stop tennis, whenever, I hope I can put an impact on the country where we can change the system and have people playing in the singles draw as well,” Nagal said after progressing into round two of Australian Open 2024.
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Further on being asked about what needs to be changed in order to have more singles players perform, the 26-year-old added, “A lot of things. First to have more tournaments in the country, bring coaches in, better facilities. Just better system, I would say.”
Moreover, Nagal is also the first Indian to beat a seeded player since 1989. The last player to do so was Ramesh Krishnan, who defeated World No. 1 Mats Wilander in the second round of the 1989 AO.
The 26-year-old will next face World No. 140, Jucheng Shang of China in his Round of 64 match. The Chinese is coming after a 6-3, 1-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Mackenzie McDonald of USA in first round of the AO2024.
