India's top-ranked tennis player Sumit Nagal officially qualified for the Paris Olympics and advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the ATP 125 Perugia Challenger with straight sets win over Bosnian Nerman Fatic here on Tuesday. The sixth seed Indian, who won the men's singles crown at the Heilbronn Neckarcup 2024 Challenger event in Germany last week, registered a 7-6(1) 6-2 win in the first round that lasted one hour 52 minutes.
Nagal's strong serving helped him overcome a close first set decided in a tiebreaker. He carried his momentum into the second set, showcasing powerful play to overpower Fatic. His next challenge is Italian player Alessandro Giannessi.
This victory boosts Nagal to a career-high ranking of 73rd in the ATP live rankings. But even before this win, Nagal had already achieved a historic feat – qualifying for the Olympics based on his ATP ranking. He'll be the sole Indian representative in the men's singles competition.
The qualification process involved a cut-off based on rankings. Nagal, ranked 95th last week, climbed 18 spots after winning the Heilbronn Neckarcup Challenger in Germany. This impressive jump secured him the final quota spot for singles players via the ATP rankings.
While France, as the host nation, had a quota reserved in case none of their players qualified directly, all four French spots were filled through the rankings. This made the final cut-off 57th instead of the initial 56th, allowing Nagal to qualify despite his current ranking of 77th.
