HORRIBLE NEWS: Holger Rune disclosed that he won’t be able to..

While this year has seen Sumit Nagal in incredible form. At the 2024 AO, this 26-year-old Indian from New Delhi made history by being the first player from that country to defeat a seeded player (Alexander Bublik) in a Grand Slam match since 1989. He then went on to win the Chennai Open ATP Challenger, which allowed him to break into the PIF ATP Top 100 for the first time in his career. Nagal will be competing in this ATP Masters 1000 event for the second time. In the past, he entered the Indian Wells main draw as a fortunate loser following Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal from the competition.

Actually, Sumit Nagal is the third Indian player to appear in the Monte Carlo Masters main draw, following Vijay Amritraj in 1977 and Ramesh Krishnan in 1982. He became the first Indian to win an ATP Masters 1000 match on a clay surface since 1990 with his recent triumph over Arnaldi. This year, the new world number ninety-three accomplished a lot of achievements.

Speaking about his previous match, Nagal only able to hit one ace and made one double error the entire time. His first serve win percentage was 55% (35–64), and his second serve win percentage was 72% (26–36). He had previously advanced to the 2021 Monte Carlo qualifiers. Is he able to surpass “The Viking” and produce another career-defining moment?

Rune vs. Nagal: Matchup

In their respective careers, the two athletes have only ever met once. When Holger Rune and Sumit Nagal faced each other last at the 2023 Davis Cup, Rune won 7-5, 6-3. Since then, the Indian tennis player has advanced significantly in what was a really competitive match. Rune won’t have an easy time in this match thanks to Nagal. When facing Holger Rune, his aggressive baseline playstyle will be something to watch out for.

But Holger Rune will always have the advantage when it comes to playing on the clay courts on important occasions. For Nagal, love is clay. He once said in an interview with Tennis TV, “I started playing tennis on clay when I was 8 or 9 years old when I was young.” Clay was scarce when I relocated to Canada. However, I have spent the last ten years residing in Germany. I think I fell in love with clay somehow. I feel like clay gives me that extra confidence because I move well. Thus, it will be interesting to observe this match.