Sumit Nagal has marked a stellar beginning to his 2024 Australia Open campaign, currently taking place at the Melbourne Park.
The Indian tennis star, who qualified straight into the main round, marked an applauding performance over Alexander Bublik this Tuesday in the opening round, marking a straight-set 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(7-5) win to ensure his entry into the second round.
Sumit Nagal landed a memorable performance
Taking on the World No. 31 Kazakh player, Sumit had the control of the match right from the start. The 26-year-old won two back to back games to start off on a a 2-0 lead, before Bublik was finally able to open up his scoreline at 2-1 and started to get a hold into the game.
Sumit, however, maintained his lead throughout the first set and rallied ahead by converting a 4-3 lead into a 5-3, followed by closing it off with a 6-4 finish to secure the first set of the match.
The World No. 137 continued his remarkable performance into the second set, and once again took the lead after breaking Bublik’s serve in the first game, followed by embarking on another a 2-0 lead.
This time, however, the Indian created an even larger gap in the scoreline, convering his lead to 4-1 as lacklustre Bublik failed to keep up. The second set ended with a 6-2 scoreline for Sumit, had was not leading the best of five contest by 2-0.
Bublik made his best efforts in the third set
The third set, however, was when Bublik bounced back and marked his first leading start of the match. Sumit did even the odds soon to make it 1-1, and in the most neck to neck set of the match so far, Bublik was able to keep some pressure on the Indian player, as the scoreline continued to climb to 2-2 and then 3-all.
As Sumit continued to get into the lead after every game, Bublik managed to keep his pursuit alive and evened the odds, taking the scoreline to 5-5 and strikingly went ahead to 6-5. Sumit didn’t let go of his pursuit either and once again took the set to 6-all. As the set progressed into the tie breaker, tensions once again peaked for Bublik into his do-or-die set. However, it was the even for Sumit as he won the tie 7-5, securing the victory.
26yo Sumit Nagal from India gets the 2nd career Grand Slam main draw win of his career, beats #31 seed Alexander Bublik 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(5) to reach the 2nd round of the #AusOpen for the first time.
Bigest win of his career.
What a moment for him! pic.twitter.com/IeS5p5kgYp
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) January 16, 2024