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Sumit Nagal has ended his journey at the Indian Wells Masters after a loss against Canadian Milos Raonic. Nagal found himself in the main draw as a lucky loser after a surprise last-minute withdrawal from Spanish legend Rafael Nadal.
Nagal kicked off his qualifying campaign in the Californian desert with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 victory against American Stefan Dostanic. The World No.101 squared off against South Korea's Hong Seong-chan in the second qualifier. While Nagal got off to a great start, he couldn't keep the momentum going, eventually losing the match 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(4).
However, as luck would have it, Rafael Nadal pulled out of the tournament at the last minute due to injury issues, giving Sumit Nagal entry into the main draw at Indian Wells.
Unfortunately, the Indian couldn't capitalize on the opportunity and fell short against former World No. 3 Raonic, 6-3, 6-3.
Sumit Nagal's 2024 season so far
Sumit Nagal has had a strong start to his Olympic year. While the Indian faced a round-of-32 loss at his first tournament of the year, the Canberra Challenger, he recovered quickly enough. Just a couple of weeks later, Nagal made it to the main draw of the Australian Open, scripting history in the process. He beat Alexander Bublik in the first round before falling short against Shang Juncheng.
From there, the World No.101 went on to win a Challenger in Chennai in front of a boisterous home crowd. He then made a semi-final appearance at the Challenger in Bangalore, before crashing out in the Round of 16 at the hands of compatriot Kaliyanda Poonacha in Pune.
This season has also seen Nagal break into the ATP top 100 despite being ranked in the 500s only a year before. He is only the 10th Indian to achieve this feat.
