The ATP Monte Carlo Masters has the most picturesque of settings among any tournament on the tennis calendar, its bright red clay courts overlooking the pristine blue of the Mediterranean Sea.
Getting a taste of its elegance this year, Sumit Nagal called it one of the most beautiful tennis venues in the world after his first qualifying round win.
Nagal outclassed Arnaldi 5-7 6-2 6-4 at Monte Carlo Masters (Getty Images via AFP)It's also now a venue where Nagal can boast of dishing out one of the biggest victories of his professional career.
Post his Australian Open run, Chennai Challenger title and top-100 breakthrough, Nagal moved to clay and felt at home immediately.
The Monte Carlo Masters, the clay court swing's first 1000 event, would be a step up for the Indian.
The ATP Monte Carlo Masters has the most picturesque of settings among any tournament on the tennis calendar, its bright red clay courts overlooking the pristine blue of the Mediterranean Sea. Getting a taste of its elegance this year, Sumit Nagal called it one of the most beautiful tennis venues in the world after his first qualifying round win. Nagal outclassed Arnaldi 5-7 6-2 6-4 at Monte Carlo Masters (Getty Images via AFP)
It's also now a venue where Nagal can boast of dishing out one of the biggest victories of his professional career.
Unlock exclusive access to the story of India's general elections, only on the HT App. Download Now!
The 93rd-ranked Indian brushed off an opening-set deficit to down world No.38 Matteo Arnaldi, the 23-year-old highly talented Italian, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the ATP 1000 tournament in Monte Carlo on Monday and set up a meeting with world No.7 Holger Rune.
Coming through the qualifying rounds, it is Nagal’s first main draw win at the Masters level (the highest on the ATP tour), ticking off another significant box in his surging season so far that has seen him beat a seeded opponent at the Australian Open and break into the top 100. Nagal also becomes the first Indian to win an ATP Masters main draw singles match on clay and at Monte Carlo, where his main draw appearance is the first by an Indian singles pro in over four decades.
“Milestones are nice," Nagal said after the win. “It was a very good match from my side. I played a very high level in the second and third sets and was able to finish it off.”
This also happens to be Nagal’s third victory over a top-50 player and his career’s third-biggest in terms of the opponent’s rankings, bettered only by his win over Alexander Bublik (ranked 27 then) at this Australian Open and Cristian Garin (22) in the ATP 250 Buenos Aires event in 2021 before he underwent a hip surgery later that year.
Three of his best five wins have come in this season and two of them over the last three days, reflecting the physical and mental high that Nagal is currently going through.
“I'm just enjoying playing right now, enjoying the feel of competing. Looking at my last few years, where I lost so much of time, this is the best I could ask for," he said.
And playing on clay, a surface on which Nagal is more comfortable and largely hones his skills at his training base in Germany, was something he was "looking forward to from the past few weeks". Post his Australian Open run, Chennai Challenger title and top-100 breakthrough, Nagal moved to clay and felt at home immediately. At ATP 250 Marrakech, he beat 99th-ranked Corentin Moutet in the opening round and went down to 61st-ranked Lorenzo Sonego in a three-setter.
The Monte Carlo Masters, the clay court swing's first 1000 event, would be a step up for the Indian. Nagal, though, stepped up himself. He marched into the main draw sweeping aside Italy’s Flavio Cobolli, ranked 63rd, in straight sets before taking down Argentina’s world No. 53 Facundo Diaz Acosta in the qualifying rounds.
That pitted him against Arnaldi, who made the pre-quarterfinals of the 2023 US Open and is also adept on clay. The Italian made the first dent on the Indian’s serve to get the break in the sixth game, only for Nagal to break right back. Nagal's serve faltered again while serving to take the set into a tiebreaker, handing Arnaldi the first set. Nagal, however, had the belief and the game plan of turning it around.
“I knew once the rally was getting longer, I was winning a majority of the points. My goal was to try to change a bit of strategy, and once I was able to control the points more, I felt like it had become a little easier for me.”
Nagal came out getting the early break in the third game, and after he thwarted a break point the next game, began to dominate the contest. Arnaldi’s serve was under constant pressure, Nagal coming on top of them two more times in the second set. Nagal was up a break again in the third game of the decider, and was his composure that despite Arnaldi levelling it up in the sixth game Nagal broke right back to move ahead and into the second round.
