Tennis: Sumit Nagal stuns world No 38 Matteo Arnaldi at Monte Carlo Masters in opening round

Sumit Nagal became the first Indian player to win a men’s singles main draw match at an ATP Masters event on clay, when he beat world No 38 Matteo Arnaldi in a tough three-set encounter in Monte Carlo on Monday.

Nagal rallied from a one-set disadvantage to defeat his Italian opponent 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round. He will next face world No 7 Holger Rune of Denmark in the Round of 32 match on Tuesday.

Nagal defeated world No 63 Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-2 6-3 in the first round of the qualifying event before defeating Argentina’s Facundo Diaz Acosta (ranked world No 55) 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 in the second round.

This is Nagal’s third victory over a top-50 player and his second of this season. The 26-year-old defeated the then-world No 27 Alexander Bublik in straight sets in the Australian Open in Melbourne at the start of the 2024 season.

In March 2021, he had also upset then-world No 22 Chilean Cristian Garin at the Argentina Open.