India's top-ranked men's singles tennis player Sumit Nagal confirmed his fourth Grand Slam main draw appearance - and his first since 2021 - on Friday, January 12, 2024. The 26-year-old dominated Slovakia's Alex Molcan to emerge victorious 6-4, 6-4 in his final Australian Open 2024 qualifying round at Melbourne Park. (More Tennis News)
Nagal was off the blocks quickly, racing away to a 3-0 lead in the first set by breaking Molcan's serve right away. The man from Jhajjar, Haryana broke again at 5-4 to take the first set 6-4. Nagal landed 75% of his first serves and converted both the break points he generated at first asking, which set things up nicely for him.
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ALSO READ: How Sumit Won His Previous Match
The second set was a neck-to-neck affair till the seventh game, after which things turned utterly dramatic. The match saw a thrilling eighth game in the second set, where Nagal came close to breaking Molcan's serve three times and endured seven deuces, before turning fourth time lucky and surging to a 5-3 lead.
He then had to take a strategic timeout and lost his serve at the cusp of a win. But he came roaring back at 5-4 and broke Molcan again to complete the heart-warming win.
Earlier, Nagal had waltzed through his second qualifying match, beating wild card Edward Winter from Australia in straight sets at the KIA Arena. The scoreline had read 6-3, 6-2 in a one-sided match that lasted one hour and four minutes.
