Sumit Nagal became the first Indian player to win an ATP Challenger title on European clay on Sunday as he won the Roma Garden Open.
The Indian tennis star defeated Jesper de Jong of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-2 in the final in Rome. This is Nagal's first title since the Buenos Aires Challenger in 2019 and third Challenger title overall.
It is a morale boosting triumph for the Indian, who had undergone a hip surgery in 2021 and has been struggling with a few niggles since.
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He is currently the highest ranked Indian player on the ATP charts at 347. The 25-year-old is set to jump up 94 places, to 253, when the latest ATP rankings are released on Monday.
Who is Sumit Nagal?
Sumit Nagal, whose first love was cricket, hails from Jhajjar, Haryana .
While Indian players are traditionally more suited to grass or hard courts, he prefers playing on clay. Nagal currently trains at the Schuettler-Waske Academy in Germany.
He first rose to fame as a teenager, when he won the boys Wimbledon doubles title in 2015 with his Vietnamese partner Lý Hoàng Nam.
Nagal made a splash on his main draw Grand Slam debut when he took a set off Roger Federer in the first round of the US Open in 2019. However, he eventually lost 6-4, 1-6, 2-6, 4-6.
The Indian star reached a career high of 122 in August 2020.
How many titles has Sumit Nagal won?
The 25-year-old has won a total of 11 titles so far. He has won three Challenger events and eight Futures events.
Only three of those 11 titles have come on hard courts while the rest are on clay.
What are ATP Challenger events?
The men's tennis tour is divided into four tiers. The Grand Slams are the most prestigious and are on the top of the pyramid.
They are followed by ATP Tour events, including ATP 1000 Masters, then the Challenger events and lastly the ITF Futures events.
The last two tiers are more for younger players who are still honing their craft. They also serve as an ideal platform for those who are returning from an injury.
Is Sumit Nagal the first Indian to win an ATP title on European clay at any level?
Nagal is not the first player from Indian to win an ATP-level title on European clay.
Indian legend Ramesh Krishnan is the only man to clinch an ATP tour title in Europe on clay.
Having turned pro in 1978, Krishnan won the 1982 Stuttgart Open, held on outdoor clay.
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