Monte Carlo Masters: Sumit Nagal goes down fighting in second round

Monte Carlo [Monaco], April 12 : Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal was ousted in the second round of the men's singles event at the Monte Carlo Masters 2024 tennis tournament in Monaco on Thursday but not before making a lasting impression.

Pitted against world No. 7 Holger Rune in the second round, Nagal gave the Dane, placed 86 places above him in the rankings, a run for his money before succumbing to a 3-6, 6-3, 2-6 loss.

Nagal held his own against Rune in the first seven games of the opening set but lost his serve in the eighth game and conceded the set. Despite Rune breaking his serve in the first game of the second set, Nagal showed immense character to hit back and stretch the match to the third set.

In the qualifiers, Sumit Nagal, then ranked 95th in the men's singles world tennis rankings, upset world No. 63 Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-2, 6-3 in the first round before accounting for the 55th-ranked Argentine Diaz Acosta 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 in the second round.

In the process, Nagal became the first Indian tennis player to qualify for the main draw of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in 42 years. Ramesh Krishnan was the last Indian to feature in the main draw of the Monaco event back in 1982.

The 26-year-old Nagal continued his fairytale run at Monaco with a stunning 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 win over Italian world No. 38 Matteo Arnaldi. It was Nagal's third win over a top-50 opponent in his career and second of the year.

The Indian tennis player had beaten the then world No. 22 Cristian Garin of Chile at the Argentina Open in 2021 and earlier this year, stunned world No. 27 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the opening round of the Australian Open.

The victory over Arnaldi also made Nagal the first Indian to win an ATP Masters 1000 singles match on clay.