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India’s men’s tennis star Sumit Nagal created history after becoming the first Indian in 42 years to make it to the main draw of the Monte Carlo Masters campaign on April 7, Sunday.
Nagal qualified for the main draw of the clay court event after defeating world No. 55 Facundo Diaz Acosta of Argentina in the second and final round of the qualifiers with a scoreline of 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 on Court 9.
Earlier in the first round of the qualifying draw, Nagal secured a win over Italy’s Flavio Cobolli with a scoreline of 6-2, 6-3. But, who is the previous Indian to make it to the main draw of the Monte Carlo Masters?
Former Indian tennis star Ramesh Krishnan was the last Indian player to qualify for the main draw of the competition way back in 1982. Unfortunately, he couldn’t progress past the first round, suffering an early defeat.
Ramesh went down to France's Thierry Tulasne in straight sets with a scoreline of 1-6, 4-6. Argentina's Guillermo Vilas ended the campaign as the eventual winner, defeating USA's Ivan Lendl 6-1, 7-6, and 6-3.
How did Sumit Nagal make it to the main draw?
Moving into the details of Nagal's second round in the qualifying draw, he was in all sorts of trouble after trailing 2-5 in the first set. However, He came back strongly, winning five games in a row to win the set 7-5.
In the second set, the Indian star was again on the back foot. But, this time, it was Acosta who secured a win and propelled the match into the final and deciding set. In the final set, Nagal was back at his best, claiming a 6-2 win to clinch the match.
Nagal has been in excellent form this year since defeating Alexander Bublik in the first round of the Australian Open in January. Subsequently, he secured the Chennai Open title and made his way into the top 100 rankings, registering his career-best rank of 95.
Nagal will be setting his eyes on the French Open 2024, scheduled to begin on May 20.
