Sumit Nagal reaches career-high ATP rank of 77

Sumit Nagal has secured a quota for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics.

Indian tennis star Sumit Nagal reached his career-best ATP rank of 77 on Monday (June 12). Nagal defeated Switzerland’s Alexander Ritschard 6-1, 6-7, 6-3 in the final of the 2024 Heilbronn Challenger to reach the feat.

Interestingly, it was Nagal’s sixth singles ATP Challenger title, and with that, he has left behind Somdev Devvarman, who had five titles. Only two Indian tennis players, Leander Paes (11) and Yuki Bhambri (7), have won more singles ATP Challenger titles than Sumit Nagal.

Nagal, 26, was seeded third in the tournament and started his campaign with a resounding victory over former ATP World No. #16 Nikoloz Basilashvili. He later defeated the likes of Javier Barranco Cosano, Ivan Gakhov and Luca Van Assche to reach the final of the Heilbronn Challenger, where he won in three sets.

With the win, he also climbed up 18 places in the updated ATP Rankings. Nagal is currently ranked #77, which is his career best. In April, he reached his then-career-high rank of 80. However, due to the first-round eliminations in the Bordeaux Challenger, Geneva Open and the French Open, he dropped 15 spots in the global rankings.

Also Read: Sumit Nagal talks about preparation for Wimbledon after his exit from French Open 2024

Next up, the 26-year-old will face Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Nerman Fatic in the first round of the 2024 Perugia Challenger. He’s also expected to play in the men’s doubles draw, partnering with Italy’s Andrea Pellegrino. Interestingly, he will face N. Sriram Balaji and Andre Begemann in the first round.

Last month, the Indian tennis star revealed that he would be playing two challenger tournaments before starting to prepare for the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. He said, “I will play in the Heilbronn & Perugia Challengers on clay next. Then a week of training on grass before playing Wimbledon.”

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Sumit Nagal has also secured the Olympic quota with a massive leap of 17 spots in the ATP rankings. He also represented India at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he was eliminated in the second round by Daniil Medvedev.

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