Sumit Nagal clinched his first ATP Challenger Tour title in almost four years in Rome on Sunday. World No. 347 Nagal beat Jesper de Jong in straight sets to win his third career title and first since lifting the winner’s trophy in Buenos Aires in 2019. He won his maiden title in Bengaluru in 2017.
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The 25-year-old Indian has a career-high ranking of 122. He won 6-3, 6-2 against the Dutchman De Jong. Jhajjar-born Nagal became the first-ever Indian man to win a Challenger Tour title on European clay and the first to win on any surface since Ramkumar Ramanathan (Manama, 2021).
Sumit Nagal, who trained under former India No. 1 Somdev Devvarrman, suffered from a hip injury late in 2021 and was out of action for five months. By October last year, he was ranked as low as 638. However, having reached at least the second round in four of the nine Challengers he has played in 2023 with his best result coming in Rome, Nagal is set to re-enter the top 300 as per live ATP Rankings.
