Chennai Open: Sumit Nagal breaks into top 100 with fifth Challenger title win

Sumit Nagal downed top seed Luca Nardi 6-1, 6-4 in Sunday's Chennai Open final to break into the top 100 for the very first time in his career.

This is Nagal's 5th title of the ATP Challenger Tour and comes on the back of an illustrious start to the 2024 season which saw him play second round at the Australian Open in January.

As a result, India's leading singles player on Monday jumped 23 spots to break into the top 100 of the ATP singles rankings for the first time in his career.

The win at the Chennai Open challenger event on Sunday pushed Nagal to 98th in the latest singles rankings led by Serbian Novak Djokovic.

Last month, Nagal became the first Indian to beat a seeded player at a Grand Slam in 35 years when he upset then world no.27 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the first round. He eventually lost to China's Juncheng Shang in the second round.

Nagal is the first Indian to feature in the top 100 since left-handed Prajnesh Gunneswaran made the cut in 2019.

"I'm very emotional. You know, every tennis player's dream is to be top 100 at least. And like I said earlier, to win this match in front of the home crowd in your own country, I don't think I could have asked for a better place," Nagal said after his victory in Chennai on Sunday.

"I don't think there were words, everyone was crying. Less words, more tears. I'm still very emotional. It's been very tough last year with being ranked 500, getting surgery done, not having financial support.

"A lot of ups and downs, you know. And I'm very happy that I found a way to push every single day and give myself a chance to be here."