India’s top-ranked singles player, Sumit Nagal, is going to start his Dubai Open campaign tomorrow after receiving a wildcard for the ATP 500 tournament. Enjoying his best-ever start to a season, can the 26-year-old topple 48-ranked Lorenzo Sonega in his opening round?
Form coming into the match
Considering that Nagal was ranked near 138 before the start of the 2024 season, the Indian is in better form. He broke into the ATP 100 for the first time in his career earlier this month and is currently ranked 101 in the world. Meanwhile, Sonego has slipped from 46 to 48.
Both had suffered second-round losses at the Australian Open; however, for Sonego, it wasn’t a successful result. Unlike Nagal, who had come into the main draw from the qualifiers, Sonego made the draw directly.
But if you look into their ATP record, the Italian is 2-6, while the Indian has a 1-1 win/loss record this year. Sonego has lost to Adrian Mannarino and Alexander Zverev at the United Cup, Sebastian Korda in Adelaide, Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open, Grigor Dimitrov in Rotterdam, and Pavel Kotov in Qatar. Of all these losses, only one (Kotov) is to a player ranked below him.
Meanwhile, Nagal has beaten Alexander Bublik (top 30) and lost to Shang Juncheng at the Australian Open. However, he has a 9-3 win/loss record at Challengers, including a title run in Chennai.
Game style, strengths and weaknesses
Sumit Nagal is a defensive player who relies on his consistent style of play. The Indian doesn’t have a standout shot, but his backhand has proven to be a reliable shot for him, and he has been using his forehand as an attacking option off late. However, his serve isn’t good by any means, and he hardly gets any free points on it.
A thing that can help Nagal is the heat. Coming from India, the 26-year-old should fare well in hot conditions at the Dubai Open and can lean on his physicality to grind his opponent out.
Lorenzo Sonego has a better range of shots than his opponent but is erratic. The Italian is known to produce high levels of tennis from time to time but lacks consistency. As someone who has wins over Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem, no one has ever questioned his skills, but his mentality and pressure handling have often let him down.
Sonego has more power overall and is easily ahead of Nagal on skills, but the Indian’s consistency can cause trouble for the Italian. Similar to what he did to Shang, Nagal can trouble Sonego at the start with his consistent play, but if the Italian finds his form, it’ll be tough to get past him.
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