Historic! Sumit Nagal jumps 23 places to break into top-100 of ATP singles rankings
Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal achieves a historic top-100 ranking after a notable climb in the ATP singles rankings, propelled by his victory at the Chennai Open challenger event.
FollowIndian tennis player Sumit Nagal made a significant leap in his career as he climbed 23 spots in the ATP singles rankings to enter the top-100 for the first time. Nagal's victory at the Chennai Open challenger event propelled him to the 98th position in the latest rankings, which are currently led by Serbian ace Novak Djokovic.
Notably, Nagal recently made history by becoming the first Indian in 35 years to defeat a seeded player at a Grand Slam tournament, beating then world no. 27 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the first round before falling to China's Juncheng Shang in the second round.
Nagal becomes the first Indian to break into the top-100 since left-handed Prajnesh Gunneswaran achieved the feat in 2019.
"I'm very emotional. You know, every tennis player's dream is to be top 100 at least. And like I said earlier, to win this match in front of the home crowd in your own country, I don't think I could have asked for a better place," Nagal said after his victory in Chennai on Sunday.
"I don't think there were words, everyone was crying. Less words, more tears. I'm still very emotional. It's been very tough last year with being ranked 500, getting surgery done, not having financial support. A lot of ups and downs, you know. And I'm very happy that I found a way to push every single day and give myself a chance to be here," he added.
