If you were to ask any aspiring tennis player what their ambitions were, winning at least one Grand Slam event would probably be the aim of most.
But to prevail on the major stage, you first need to qualify for such an illustrious tournament – that’s a code that Sumit Nagal, India’s number one player in men’s singles action, has cracked in his breakthrough season in 2024.
The top 104 players in the world qualify automatically for each of the majors. And with Nagal now up to a career-high of 68 in the ATP rankings (at the time of writing), he will sign off on his season at the U.S. Open – meaning that he’s played in all four Grand Slams in 2024.
So it’s onwards and upwards from here for the 26-year-old…
Amongst the Best
For those who bet on tennis online, the focus is typically on those at the summit of the world rankings when wagers are placed.
Those who bet on U.S. Open 2024 will of course be favouring Olympic gold medallist Novak Djokovic (15/8), former Flushing Meadows champion Daniil Medvedev (5/1), and previous U.S. Open finalist Alex Zverev (16/1).
But that’s not to say that shock results don’t happen on the hard courts of Queens, New York – Marin Cilic, Stan Wawrinka, and Dominic Thiem have all lifted the U.S. Open trophy in the midst of the era of three of the greatest players ever to pick up a tennis racket in Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, and Roger Federer.
It was an honor to represent 🇮🇳 at the Paris Olympics. The journey to LA 2028 has already begun! 💪🏽 pic.twitter.com/5EAtpReIuH
— Sumit Nagal (@nagalsumit) August 2, 2024
Haryana-born Nagal probably won’t be thinking of winning the U.S. Open – he is yet to win an ATP Tour-level title, after all, but he will still be full of confidence at the culmination of a season in which he has qualified for all four Grand Slams and competed at the Olympic Games.
In February 2023, Nagal was ranked 506th in the world. His ascendance since then is the stuff of sporting dreams…
Home Pride
Something seemed to click for the 26-year-old in the summer of 2023, when he reached four finals on the second-tier Challenger Tour – winning on clay in Rome and Finland.
Nagal carried that form into 2024, qualifying for the Australian Open and beating the number 31 seed, Alexander Bublik, in the first round, before tasting defeat in the second.
By February, he’d become only the tenth Indian men’s player in history to reach the top 100 of the ATP rankings – which he achieved with an emotional Challenger Tour victory in Chennai.
Hometown glory 🇮🇳@nagalsumit is into his first Challenger final of the year after defeating No.3 seed Svrcina 6-3, 6-4 in Chennai#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/OoEAZi6qmH
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) February 10, 2024
He became the first Indian in more than four decades to qualify for the main draw at the Monte Carlo Masters in April, winning his first-round match before losing in three sets to the seventh seed in the second round.
Such progress earned him a place in the main draw of both the French Open and Wimbledon, where he would lose in the first round. But he did not disgrace himself in what was his debut at both of those majors.
Nagal has twice played in the U.S. Open before – reaching the second round in 2020, so he will be hoping to replicate that feat at Flushing Meadows in 2024 too.
But even if he doesn’t, the Indian can reflect on a season in which he has crashed his way into the world’s top 100, played in all four majors, won more Challenger circuit titles and represented India at the Olympic Games.
Who knows what 2025 will hold if this level of progression continues?
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