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India’s Sumit Nagal made his way through to the main draw of the Australian Open 2024 of men’s singles on January 12, Friday. The Indian secured a gritty 6-4, 6-4 win over Slovakia’s Alex Molcan on Court 3 in the last round of the qualifiers in a thrilling encounter that lasted for two hours and three minutes. This will be Nagal’s second main draw appearance at the Australian Open, first in three years, and fourth overall at a Grand Slam event.
The last time that Nagal played a Grand Slam main draw was in Australian Open 2021 where he lost 2-6, 5-7, 3-6 to Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis. The 26-year-old got off an early lead in the first set before his opponent levelled the score 3-3 as he lost his rhythm and registered 17 errors. Nagal currently ranked 139 in the world, held his nerve, and earned his second breakpoint opportunity to close the first set 6-4 in 51 minutes.
In the second set of the game, when the score was 4-3, Nagal earned a crucial break to go 5-3 up. While the score was 5-4, Nagal earned three points and ended up losing two. Just when it seemed that Mocan would save another match point, he made a double fault. The Indian went on to wrap the second round at 6-4, paving his way through to the main event.
In the first round of the year opening Grand Slam, Nagal will lock horns with Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik. After his qualifiers’ win, the Indian star said, “To be honest, I don’t know what to say. Saving maybe 6 match points, not being able to convert them, and getting away with the double fault, I wouldn’t complain about today. I am super happy to get through and thanks to everyone who showed up and supported me.”
