Sumit Nagal becomes first man from India to win Masters 1000 match on clay in Monte Carlo

It may be only be April, but Sumit Nagal is having himself a banner year.

In January, Nagal upset Alexander Bublik to reach the second round of the Australian Open for the first time after successfully coming through the qualifying stages. In February, he made his Top 100 debut following his triumph on home soil at an ATP Challenger event in Chennai.

Over the weekend, Nagal became the first man from India to qualify at the Monte Carlo Masters since 1982. On Monday, the 26-year-old topped the feat by becoming the first player from his nation to win a main-draw match at the prestigious event in the Open Era (per the ATP).

Nagal rallied to defeat Matteo Arnaldi, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, recovering from losing an early break advantage in the decider to eventually close out the Italian for his first Masters 1000 match win. More notably: his victory is also the first by an Indian man at any clay-court Masters event since the level was introduced in 1990 by the men’s tour.

“I didn’t take the chances that I had in the first set, he was the better player. But the last two sets, I have nothing to complain (about). Very, very good quality from me,” Nagal reflected with Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj.

“I started playing tennis on clay when I was eight, nine years old. Didn’t get much clay when I moved to Canada but I’ve been living in Germany for the past 10 years. Somehow I fell in love with clay. For me, if I’m moving well, it gives me extra confidence. I feel like clay gives me that.”

Today, Nagal is competing with a career-high No. 93 ranking. In 2023, the New Delhi resident was ranked as low as No. 509 after returning from hip surgery and struggling to make ends meet, revealing that he had 900 euros in the bank as of that September. This tournament week last year, he stood at No. 370 and fell in the first round of qualifying at the Split Challenger.

In the second round, Nagal seeks his biggest career win when he takes on seventh seed Holger Rune. The Dane finished runner-up to Andrey Rublev here last year. Nagal is 0-4 lifetime against Top 10 opponents, having previously lost to Rune in a Davis Cup rubber 14 months ago.