Melbourne, 16 Jan

Sumit Nagal returned to the big stage in grand style, pulling off one of the biggest victories of his career by stunning world number 27 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in straight sets to breeze into the Australian Open second round, here Tuesday.

Someone who was denied a regional wild card opportunity by the AITA for his refusal to play Davis Cup, Nagal came through qualifiers and sent packing 31st seed Bublik 6-4 6-2 7-6(5) in a gruelling match that lasted two hours and 38 minutes.

Nagal, ranked 137 in the world, is playing in a Grand Slam main draw for the first time since 2021 Australian Open when he had lost 2-6 5-7 3-6 to Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis in the opening round.

Nagal's victory was first by an Indian against a seeded player in a Grand Slam main draw in 35 years. The last time it happened was way back in 1989 when Ramesh Krishnan shocked Swede Mats Wilander, the then world number one and defending champion at the Australian Open.

In the 2020 US Open, Nagal had lost to second seed and eventual champion Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round.

The 26-year-old will next play China's Juncheng Shang, ranked 140, on Thursday. If he happens to win the second round, there is potential third round clash with world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain.

By wining the first round, Nagal has ensured that he will pocket at least AUD 120,000 in addition to the AUD 65,000 for his three wins in the qualifying stage.

It means that Nagal has secured his 2024 ATP Tour budget that is no less than one crore Indian rupees.

Someone who had told PTI in an interaction that he is left with only 900 Euros in his pocket at the end of 2023 season, the prize money earned will take off a lot of financial burden of his shoulders.

"If I look at my bank balance, I have what I had at the beginning of the year. It is 900 euros (approx Rs 80,000). The funding I need to break into top-100 is around one crore," Nagal had told PTI after Davis Cup tie against Morocco.

Nagal had landed a lot of sponsorships after the interview.

The Indian was off to an impressive start as he broke Bublik in the first game of the match but he also failed to hold on to his own serve next as the scoreline read 1-1.

The Indian then broke his opponent's serve twice to take the opening set 6-4 in 42 minutes.

Nagal kept the ball in the play while the usual big-serving Bublik was struggling to get his rhythm. The Kazakh player's big forehand helped him only in patches. His first serve was huge disappointment while Nagal, despite his limitation with his serve, managed to hurt the tall Kazakh with consistency.

Nagal played even better in the second set as he broke serve of his opponent twice while holding his own all through to win 6-2 in 43 minutes.

In the third set, both the players held their serve till the seventh game when Nagal broke his opponent to take a 4-3 lead. He then cruised ahead at 5-3.

The Indian then served for the match at 5-4 but failed to hold. The third set went into the tie-breaker with Nagal eventually winning 7-5.

Nagal had made it to the main draw with a 6-4 6-4 win over Slovakia's Alex Molcan in the tournament's qualifying final on Friday.

Nagal made his Slam debut in the 2019 US Open against the iconic Roger Federer. He took a set off the Swiss giant but lost the match 6-4, 1-6, 2-6, 4-6 eventually.

In the first round of the 2020 US Open, Nagal had beaten American Bradley Klahn 6-1, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to become the first Indian to win a Grand Slam singles match after Somdev Devvarman (2013).