India’s Sumit Nagal has created history by becoming the first Indian tennis player to win an ATP Challenger event on a European clay court. Nagal pulled off a stunning upset after defeating higher-ranked Dutchman Jesper de Jong in Rome on April 30. The 25-year-old Nagal clinched his third ATP Challenger title, his first since 2019.
Ranked 347th in the ATP singles rankings, Nagal managed to overcome his 234th ranked Dutch opponent, winning the match 6-3 6-2. He played six tough matches, including two rounds of qualifiers to reach the final and emerged victorious in the end.
Before facing de Jong, Nagal defeated Italy’s Jacepo Berretini in the first round of qualifiers. He then overcame Norway’s Victor Durasovic, who has an ATP rank of 302, in a gruelling three-setter to secure a place in the main round. Nagal then thrashed home favourite Francesco Maestrelli in the first round, blanked wildcard Fausto Tabacco of Italy, and defeated Netherlands’ Max Houkes to secure a place in the semi-final of the Rome event.
In the quarter-finals, Nagal was pitted against tough Belgian opponent Joris De Loore, seeded eighth. Although he lost the opening set against the 198th ranked player, Nagal managed to win the next two 7-5, 6-4 to make it to the title round.
A regular member of the Indian Davis Cup squad, Nagal had defeated Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in the first round of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics before losing to Russian player Daniil Medvedev in the second round. Notably, Indian player Ramesh Krishnan had won the ATP Stuttgart Open on clay in 1982, but that was an ATP Tour event, a higher level tournament.