How Sumit Nagal ended a 25-year drought for India

Sumit Nagal was a last-minute entry into the men’s singles tennis at Tokyo 2020. A glut of withdrawals meant Nagal, ranked 144 at the cut-off date, found a spot on the last possible day of qualifications for the Olympics.

But having made it to his maiden Olympics, Nagal made it count. The Indian defeated Asian Games champion Denis Istomin 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 in the first round of Tokyo 2020. He will take on World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in the second round.

He became only the third Indian player to win a round at the Olympics in singles. Amazingly, neither of India’s most successful singles players in the Open Era – Ramesh Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj and Sania Mirza — have achieved that feat.

Nagal, 23, became the first Indian player since Leander Paes’ bronze-medal finish at Atlanta 1996 to win a singles match. Here are the only two Indian players have managed to do it before Nagal:

Zeeshan Ali

Zeeshan Ali earned his place at his maiden Olympics in Seoul 1988 as he qualified for the men’s singles men’s draw. Tennis was re-introduced to the Olympics programme, after a gap of 64 years, in 1988.

Only 18 then, Ali defeated Paraguay's Victor Caballero 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in the opening round. He battled it out against 10th seed Jakob Hlasek in the second round, but had to settle for a 4-6, 5-7, 5-7 loss.

Leander Paes

Paes, who has competed in a record seven Olympics, won a bronze medal at Atlanta 1996, sharing the podium with Grand Slam champions likes of Andre Agassi (gold) and Sergei Bruguera.

Entering the men’s singles draw as a wildcard, Paes made it all the way to the semi-finals. After a tough fight in the opening set against Agassi, Paes lost out 6-7, 3-6.

In the bronze medal match, he defeated Brazil’s Fernando Meligeni 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. It was India’s first individual medal since wrestler KD Jadhav clinched bronze at Helsinki 1952.

Paes has competed thrice in the men’s singles event at the Olympics, but did not win a match in either Barcelona 1992 or Sydney 2000.