(Image source from: India Today)

Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal on Tuesday made his Grand Slam debut at the U.S. Open that lasted two hours and 29 minutes by clinching first set against Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in the opening round at Flushing Meadows.  

Nagal made his Grand Slam first appearance at the U.S. Open after defeating Joao Menezes of Brazil.

Born on August 16, 1997, Nagal gathered interest in tennis at the age of 10 when he was inducted into former Indian tennis great Mahesh Bhupathi's Mission 2018 program, which sought to produce an Indian Grand Slam singles champion by 2018.

                       (Image source from: The Week)

Nagal, in 2015 became the sixth tennis player from India to win a junior Grand Slam title after clinching the Wimbledon boys' doubles title with his Vietnamese partner Ly Hoang Nam after defeating the American-Australian duo of Reilly Opelka and Akira Santillan in the final.

In 2016 Nagal made his Davis Cup debut with a World Group Playoff clash against Spain in New Delhi.  

                       (Image source from: Scroll.in)

The Indian player clinched his first challenger title at the 2017 edition of the Bengaluru Challenger after defeating British tennis player Jay Clarke. Nagal also defeated compatriot Yuki Bhambri in the semi-final and top seed Blaz Kavcic in the quarter-final of that tournament.  

                       (Image source from: Hindustan Times)

Owing to disciplinary issues, Nagal was reportedly dropped from India’s Davis Cup team by the All India Tennis Association in 2017.

In July 2016, Nagal had allegedly missed a practice session in Chandigarh citing hangover and even brought his girlfriend along to the tour without seeking approval from the authorities.

                       (Image source from: Sportstar - The Hindu)

Nagal had also finished as a runner-up along with his partners Amandeep Singh and Raj Kumar (sub pro) at the 2018 Junior Asian Games.

Besides Somdev Devvarman, Yuki Bhambri, Saketh Myneni and Prajnesh Gunneswaran, the Indian player Nagal became only the fifth individual to feature in the main draw of a Grand Slam singles in this decade.  

                       (Image source from: NDTV Sports)

He also became the youngest Indian in 25 years to qualify for the main draw of the U.S. Open and the second Indian player to take part in the 2019 edition of the tournament after Prajnesh Gunneswaran.

Nagal is currently placed at 190th spot in the Association for Tennis Professionals (ATP) men's singles rankings.

By Sowmya Sangam