ITALY: India's top-ranked tennis player Sumit Nagal advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the ATP 125 Perugia Challenger with a straight sets win over Bosnian Nerman Fatic here on Tuesday.
The sixth seed Indian, who won the men's singles crown at the Heilbronn Neckarcup 2024 Challenger event in Germany last week, registered a 7-6(1), 6-2 win in the first round that lasted one hour 52 minutes.
The first set was fought on even keel with little separating the two players but Nagal managed to edge out Fatic in the tiebreak.
He then continued his fantastic first serve performance, dominating his Bosnian rival in the second set.
Nagal will take on local player Alessandro Giannessi in the second round.
The win has elevated Nagal four spots to a new career-high of 73 in the ATP live rankings.
The 26-year-old has all but sealed a spot in the Paris Olympics men's singles draw.
Nagal would be the sole Indian in the men's singles event in Paris. The International Tennis Federation will notify national federations about qualified athletes by June 12, following which National Olympic Committees will confirm their entries by June 19.