India's Sumit Nagal caused a major upset at the Australian Open on Tuesday as he outclassed Kazakhstan's World No. 27 Alexander Bublik in straight sets in the men's singles first round.
World No. 139 Nagal cruised to an emphatic 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory against the 31st seed Kazah player in two hours and 38 minutes on Court No 6.
Nagal becomes the first Indian in more than three decades to upset a seeded player in a Grand Slam. Ramesh Krishnan was the last Indian to achieve the feat when he produced a sensational upset to beat World No 1 Mats Wilander 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 in the second round of the 1989 Australian Open.
Nagal made a flying start as he converted three break point opportunities with Bublik's serve crumbling under pressure and he continued to hold the upperhand in the second set grabbing another crucial break of serve to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
In the third set, Nagal served for the match at 5-4 before Bublik broke back to take the match into the tie-breaker, which the Indian won after his opponent double faulted.
Sumit Nagal had upset 14th seed and former World No. 38, Slovalia's Alex Molcan 6-4, 6-4 in the final qualifying round of the Australian Open to enter the main draw.
He is the first Indian to qualify for the main draw of any Grand Slam since 2021.
This is his second main draw appearance at the Australian Open since 2021, when he was beaten by Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis in the opening round 2-6, 5-7, 3-6.
Nagal had also made it to the US Open main draw in 2019 and 2020.
In 2019, Nagal had stretched legendary Roger Federer to four sets at Flushing Meadows before losing 6-4, 1-6, 2-6, 4-6.
However, a year later, the Indian managed to enter the second round of the US Open beating host nation's Bradley Klahn in the first round before he went down to second seed and eventual champion Dominic Thiem in the second round.
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