Indian tennis ace Sumit Nagal scipted history on Tuesday (January 16) when he became the first player from India to defeat a seeded player across Grand slams since 1989. He achieved the feat by defeating Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik in the opening round of the main’s draw. Nagal secured a comfortable straight-sets win over World Number 27 with the finale scoreline reading- 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(7-5) in favour of the Indian to proceed to the next round of Australian Open 2024.
However, had Indian cricket star Virat Kohli not been there, it would have been difficult for Nagal to achieve this feat in 2024. A past interview of Nagal has resurfaced where the tennis star had revealed how Virat Kohli and his foundation had helped him when he was facing a financial crunch. In retrospect, without that help in a time of need, Nagal wouldn’t have managed to continue his tennis career and consequently achieve the win on Tuesday that has helped him make headlines.
‘Had Kohli Not Been Supporting Me…’: Nagal
Notably, Nagal highlighted the important of Kohli’s help and said that it was difficult to imagine for him how his life would have been had Kohli not helped him in time of need.
“Virat Kohli’s foundation has been supporting me since 2017. I haven’t been performing well for the last two years and was facing a financial crisis. If I didn’t have Virat Kohli supporting me, I don’t know what I would have done,” Nagal told Bombay Times as per an article dating back to August 2019.
“Early this year (in 2019), when I was flying from Canada to Germany after a tournament, I had six dollars in my wallet… just six dollars after the help that I have been getting, so imagine what a mess I must have been before. But I survived, and things are getting better. If people fund athletes, it will only help the sport flourish in the country. I am fortunate to get that support from Virat,” he further added.
While Nagal has managed to qualify for the second round of a grand slam in the past, this is the first time he would play a second round match in Australian Open. In 2021, his campaign had ended in the first round itself, losing to Ricardas Berankis 2-6, 5-7, 3-6.