Sumit Nagal, with his exploits at the Australian Open 2024, has become the talk of the town suddenly. After beating Alexander Bublik in the first round on Tuesday, he has suddenly emerged as the next big thing in Indian tennis. But for the unversed, the 26-year-old has been around for a long time, and has come up with decent performances throughout.
But of course, not many knew about him prior to this Australian Open. In fact, it was career full of uncertainties for Nagal, who had opened up about his financial woes last year. He had went on to reveal that he had INR 80000 left in his bank account, and he was exhausting close to a crore every year, on training, lodging, and travelling expenses.
“If I look at my bank balance, I have what I had at the beginning of the year. It is 900 euros (approx Rs 80,000). I did get a bit of help. Mr Prashant Sutar is helping me with MAHA Tennis Foundation, and I also get monthly (salary) from IOCL, but I don’t have any big sponsor,” Nagal told PTI in an interview.
Cut to 2024 now, Sumit has beaten Bublik, who is the World no. 27 player, who has made it to, as far as fourth round in the Grand Slams, and money doesn’t seem to be an issue for him. He has career earnings of US$5,777,715 or INR 47 crore, as compared to Nagal’s $733,703, or INR 6 crore.
This Australian Open Win Matters for Sumit Nagal
Sumit Nagal is assured to make $180000 or a crore here at the Australian Open after sailing into the second round, which would cover him for the year at the very least. If he can manage to rake up another win or two, he might not just mint a few bucks, but also gain confidence, to be beat top 50 players in the world regularly.
