India’s best singles tennis player Sumit Nagal was handed a straight-set defeat by Canada’s Milos Raonic, a former Wimbledon finalist, at the Indian Wells Masters, on Friday. Nagal lost 3-6, 3-6 in one hour and 28 minutes in the first round itself, after he made it to the main draw as a ‘lucky loser’, after Rafael Nadal pulled out.
The World No. 101 couldn’t get going against the World No. 224 Canadian, and the latter handed the Indian a humiliating defeat. But still, all is not lost for Nagal, who will take with a prize money of $30,050 and 20 ATP points. That means, he will still be within the top-100, 101 players in the world, that keeps him in contention for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Earlier, on Tuesday night, Sumit Nagal had failed to make it to the main draw of the Indian Wells Masters, following a close defeat to South Korea’s Hong Seong-Chan 6-2, 2-6, 6-7 (4-7), but a couple of days later, he found himself making his debut appearance at a Masters event.
Meanwhile, in the first qualifying round of the Indian Wells Masters, he had defeated the American wildcard Stefan Dostanic 6-2, 6-2.
