Paris 2024: Sumit Nagal qualifies for Olympics

Nagal was one of the alternates but with the number of withdrawals of those ranked higher than him increasing, he is set to make the cut when the ITF releases the official entry list on July 4.

FILE PHOTO: Sumit Nagal. | Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam / The Hindu

Sumit Nagal has qualified for Paris Olympics, the top-ranked Indian confirmed on Saturday.

“Extremely glad to share that I have officially qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics. This is a monumental moment for me as the Olympics holds a special place in my heart,” said Nagal in a social media post.

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Nagal was one of the alternates but with the number of withdrawals of players ranked higher than him increasing, the Indian is set to make the cut when the International Tennis Federation releases the official entry list on July 4.

In Paris Olympics, tennis will be played at Roland Garros, the venue where French Open is held, from July 27 to August 4.

The 26-year-old Nagal is only the second Indian player to make the cut in the singles event in consecutive editions of the Summer Games since Leander Paes (1992-2000). Paes had won bronze at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, India’s second individual medal at the quadrennial event.

Tennis players who have represented India in singles events at the Olympics (along with their results)

Paris (1924)

Men’s Singles: Sydney Jacob - quarterfinals

Mohammed Sleem - Round of 32

Syed Mohammad Hadi - Round of 64

Athar-Ali Fyzee - Round of 64

Women’s Singles: Nora Polley - Round of 16

Los Angeles (1984)

Men’s Singles: Gopinath Nair - Round of 32

Seoul (1988)

Men’s Singles: Zeeshan Ali - Round of 32

Vijay Amritraj - Round of 64

Barcelona (1992)

Men’s Singles: Ramesh Krishnan - Round of 64

Leander Paes - Round of 64

Atlanta (1996)

Men’s Singles: Leander Paes - Bronze medal

Sydney (2000)

Men’s Singles: Leander Paes - Round of 64

Beijing (2008)

Women’s Singles: Sania Mirza - Round of 64

London (2012)

Men’s Singles: Somdev Devvarman - Round of 64

Vishnu Vardhan - Round of 64

Tokyo (2021)

Men’s Singles: Sumit Nagal - Round of 32

Paris (2024)

Men’s Singles: Sumit Nagal - Yet to be determined

Nagal had also featured in men’s singles at the Tokyo Olympics where he lost to second-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev in the second round.

It has been a breakout season for Nagal. The Indian started the year by qualifying for the main draw of the Australian Open where he shocked 31st-seeded Kazakh Alexander Bublik in the opening round. He became the first Indian man in 35 years to defeat a seeded player in a Slam.

He then won the Chennai Open ATP Challenger to make his Top 100 debut in the ATP Rankings.

READ | Sumit Nagal goes past Leander Paes, becomes joint-fourth highest-ranked Indian man in ATP Rankings history

He also became the first ever Indian man to record a main-draw win at Monte Carlo Masters, beating Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi in the first round.

Nagal made his French Open debut and is also set to feature in the main draw at Wimbledon.

Recently, the Indian clinched his sixth title on the Challenger Tour in Heilbronn, Germany. That result took him up to 77 in the ATP Rankings on June 10, the cut-off date for qualification for Paris, and made him one of the alternates. He followed that title with a runner-up finish in Perugia, Italy, the next week to rise up to 71 which is the joint-fourth highest ranking achieved by an Indian man since the introduction of the computerised system of rankings in 1973.