Ace Indian Tennis star Sumit Nagal attained his best-ever position (71st) in live ATP Rankings despite going down in a weak-effort final of the ATP Perugia Challenger on Sunday against Italy’s Luciano Darderi. Though the Indian was far from convincing in the summit clash that lasted a little over one hour, losing 1-6, 2-6, he still had something to cheer about. 

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Nagal played his 10th match in 12 days, including his winning spree in Heilbronn, Germany, where he clinched his sixth Challenger crown. That win, however, helped him enter into the 70s (77) in the ATP Rankings, giving him a shot for a spot in men’s singles competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

After his semis win against Spain’s Bernabe Zapata Miralles in a three-set classic, Nagal found it tougher to find his rhythm against the 41-seed Darderi, starting slowly in the finale. The Italian broke Nagal’s serve thrice to win the first set easily in 27 minutes.

Nagal upped his game in the second set, breaking Darderi’s serve, making it 1-2 at one stage. The Italian returned to his best, restoring the advantage by breaking Nagal’s sixth game and making it 4-2. That was enough for Darder to win the title match in straight sets. 

Nagal surpasses Leander Paes

Nagal has had a stunning 2024. From winning his first Challenger Tour title in Chennai in February to his historic second-round outing at the first Slam of the Year – the Australian Open, Nagal made headlines. He even played at the French Open, while his chances of appearing at the Wimbledon are in the pipeline. Besides, the 2024 Paris Games at the Roland Garros will also be the highlight.

Meanwhile, Nagal surpassed Indian Tennis legend Leander Paes (73) on the ATP Rankings, becoming the joint-fourth highest-ranked Indian alongside Sashi Menon (71) on the all-time list since the introduction of the computerised rankings in 1973. 

Nagal is behind Somdev Devvarman (62), Ramesh Krishnan (23) and Vijay Amritraj (18). 

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