Sumit Nagal achieves career-best ranking of 68; fourth in all-time list of best Indian players

India’s top-ranked men’s singles tennis player Sumit Nagal achieved his career best ranking of 68 in the latest ATP rankings list.

Nagal is now the fourth-best Indian tennis player of all-time. Vijay Amritraj (world rank 18 in 1980), Ramesh Krishnan (world rank 25 in 1985) and Somdev Devvaraman (world rank 62 in 2011) are the only Indians who have ever been ranked higher than Nagal now.

Leander Paes (highest ranking of 73 in 1998), Anand Amritraj (highest ranking of 74 in 1974), Prajnesh Gunneswaran (75 in 2019), Yuki Bhambri (83 in 2018) and Jasjit Singh (89 in 1974) are the other Indians who have been ranked in the top-100 at one point in their careers in the men’s singles category.

Nagal was on level with Sashi Menon (ranked 71 in 1975) and the 26-year-old tennis player leapfrogged five spots post the French Open and the Wimbledon appearances. He, earlier this year, competed at the Australian Open too.

Although he lost in the first rounds at both Roland Garros and at Wimbledon, he managed to reach the second round at the Australian Open. He beat 27th seed A Bublik in the first round at Melbourne.

Nagal was the first Indian player in five years to play in the main draw of Wimbledon.

The top-ranked Indian has set his sights on the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics and he will be the second Indian player after Leander Paes to play in two consecutive Olympics. Paes played at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where he won the bronze medal, and competed in the next five consecutive editions making him the first Indian and the only tennis player to compete in seven Olympic Games.

In the ongoing 2024 season, Nagal has won two titles – the Heilbronn Challenger and the Chennai Open ATP Challenger.