Australian Open: Sumit Nagal enters Grand Slam main draw after 3 years

Melbourne, Jan 12 (IANS) India Sumit Nagal made his way through to the Australian Open men’s singles main draw after beating Alex Molcan of Slovakia 6-4, 6-4 in the final round of the qualifiers here on Friday.

Nagal, currently 139th in the singles world ranking, entered the main round of a Grand Slam event for the first time since 2021, marking his fourth overall grand slam main draw appearance.

The Indian marked his grand slam main draw debut in 2019 US Open, when he faced Roger Federer in his opening round match and managed to take first set against the Swiss legend before losing the match 6-4, 1-6, 2-6, 4-6.

At 2020 US Open main draw, Nagal won his opening round match against Bradley Klahn, becoming first Indian since Somdev Devvarman (2013 US Open) to win a singles match in the main draw of a Grand Slam. However, he was defeated by eventual champion Dominic Thiem in the second round.

Nagal's last appearance in the main draw took place at the Australian Open in 2021, where he faced an opening-round defeat with a scoreline of 2-6, 5-7, 3-6 against Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis.