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US Open: Sumit Nagal makes history, set to face Roger Federer in 1st round
Nagal became the youngest Indian to qualify for a Grand Slam main draw in 25 years.
The 2019 US Open will get underway from Monday with big names eyeing the top prize. India's Sumit Nagal made history on Friday by the youngest Indian to qualify for a Grand Slam main draw in 25 years. Sumit qualified for the main draw after beating Joao Menezes of Brazil 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the final qualifying round match on Friday. India will have two representatives in the singles department with Nagal being joined by automatic qualifier Prajnesh Gunneswaran.
This will be Nagal’s first appearance at a senior Grand Slam and will face the legendary Roger Federer in the first round. The match is scheduled to take place on Tuesday morning, starting at around 6.30 AM (IST). On the other hand, Prajnesh will face fifth seed Daniil Medvedev in the first round. That match is scheduled to start at around 10 pm (IST) on Monday night.
Against Menezes on Friday, Nagal was broken in the 12th game of the first set for the first time to lose the opening set 5-7. He made a bad start to the second set as well, being broken to go 0-2 down. However, it was from this stage that he roared back. He broke back twice to take the second set 6-4. With momentum on his side, he broke Menezes early on in the third set as well, going on to take it 6-3. He got match point on a 30-all crosscourt backhand winner, the crowd erupted when Menezes shot went wide.
This is the first time since the 1998 Wimbledon that there are two Indians in a Grand Slam singles draw. That year (1998) it was Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi who played singles.
Nagal's effort also makes him just the fifth Indian to qualify for a Grand Slam singles event in the recent past. Somdev Dev Varman had played at the 2013 US Open. Saketh Myneni played at the 2016 US Open. Yuki Bhambri played in all four Grand Slams in 2018 before the knee injury and Prajnesh Gunneswaran played at the 2019 Australian Open.
