Top-ranked Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal defeated Bosnian Nerman Fatic in straight sets on Tuesday to go to the ATP 125 Perugia Challenger pre-quarterfinals and officially qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024.

In the first round, which lasted 1 hour and 52 minutes, the sixth-seeded Indian, who won the men’s singles title at the Heilbronn Neckarcup 2024 Challenger event in Germany last week, defeated the opponent 7-6(1) 6-2.

Although there wasn’t much between the two players in the first set on Tuesday, Nagal triumphed in the tiebreak.

He then carried on with his outstanding first serve display, winning the second set against his Bosnian opponent.

In the second round, Nagal will play Alessandro Giannessi, a local player.

In the ATP live rankings, Nagal’s victory has moved him up four spots to a new career high of 73.

Sumit Nagal Used ATP Ranking for Qualifying

The 26-year-old Indian has used his ATP Rankings to guarantee his place in the men’s singles bracket of the Paris Olympics.

In the Paris Olympics men’s singles competition, Nagal would be the lone Indian competitor. National Olympic Committees will confirm the athletes’ entries by June 19 after receiving notification from the International Tennis Federation (ITF) by June 12.

Nagal, who was ranked last among eligible players who obtained quotas through the global rankings, made the cut after moving up eighteen spots in the singles standings last week.

He was ranked 95th the previous week, but after winning the ATP Challenger championship at the Heilbronn Neckarcup in Germany on Sunday, he rose to a career-high of 77th.

If none of the French singles players were able to earn a direct berth through rankings, France had one quota spot set aside as the host nation.

But as the hosts were able to use the ATP Rankings to reach their full four-quota allocation in men’s singles, the host nation quota was added back into the pool, raising the cutoff to 57 from 56.

Nagal is ranked 77th overall, but among the qualified players who received quotas through world rankings, he is ranked last.

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