Sumit Nagal earned a shock win last year at the Australian Open (Image: Getty)
Sumit Nagal secured the biggest victory of his career by defeating then 31st seed Alexander Bublik in straight sets in the first round at the last year.
The Indian tennis player, who had to come through qualifying, guaranteed himself a minimum prize money of £94,000 (AUD$180,000). The victory came just four months after he revealed that he had only £775 left in his bank account due to the high costs associated with the tennis circuit.
Nagal, who was then world No. 137, became the highlight of the third day of the 2024 when he defeated then world No. 27 Bublik 6-4 6-2 7-6(5) to progress to the second round.
The win marked the first time since 2021 that the Indian player has made it to the main draw of a Major through qualifying, and he did so without losing a single set.
The triumph over Bublik was Nagal’s second-ever match win at a Grand Slam and kickstarted a great run by the 27-year-old, following his advancement to the second round of the US Open in 2020. The win was particularly significant for Nagal given the financial boost he will receive from winning a match in the main draw.
Nagal’s win assured himself of at least £94k in prize money – an amount which was greater than his total earnings in 2023, which were £92k. The Indian player spoke candidly ahead of the competition about his financial difficulties, disclosing that he had less than £800 in his bank account as of September last year, despite having won two Challenger titles in the season prior.
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Sumit Nagal cruised to victory over Alexander Bublik (Image: Getty)
After an ’emotional’ victory that left him teary-eyed, the then world number 137 opened up, declared: “Obviously, I’m not crying right now, but of course, at the same time it hasn’t completely sunk in yet. You know, these moments you will go through as an athlete. Sometimes you’ll have a good year, sometimes you’ll have a bad year.
“Last year was probably one of the best years in a term where, like I said, you know, [from having] 900 Euros, not getting into tournaments for first few months, relying on wild cards in February to finishing 130 again. It’s not an incredible, or like, you know, record-breaking thing. From where I started, I was pretty proud of myself to be able to give myself another chance to be here, to qualify, to like I said, play second round on Thursday. It’s a good feeling.”
His comments followed an earlier reflection from what he said earlier in the season when he told the Indian news agency PTI about his financial woes: “When I look at my bank account, I now have as much as I had at the beginning of the year – 900 euros. The annual cost of travelling with a trainer is around 100,000 to 120,000 euros.”
Sumit Nagal was ultimately knocked out in the second round (Image: Getty)
Despite reinvesting any earnings into his career, the tennis ace revealed struggles with injury, hip surgery and had taken their toll.
In a heartfelt statement in September last year, he confessed: “I felt when my ranking dropped after injury, no one wanted to help me, no one believed that I could be back. That was disappointing because I feel whatever I do is not enough. It’s so hard to find financial support in India. To be honest I do not know what to do, I have given up.”
However, following his revelation, Gatorade stepped forward to sponsor Nagal, providing him with the much-needed financial backing to manage the expenses of life on the tennis circuit. Nagal was unable to build on his sensational first-round win though, being beaten by wildcard Shang Juncheng in his next match.