After India’s top singles tennis player Sumit Nagal refused to play in the upcoming Davis Cup tie against Pakistan, he has been denied a chance to play at the Australian Open. As per a report in the Hindustan Times, the All Indian Tennis Association has refused to send Nagal’s nomination for a wildcard entry into the Grand Slam next year.
Nagal, the WR-138, was in contention to bag the singles wildcard reserved for a player of the Asia-Pacific region, but the AITA has not forwarded his case. “Anil Dhupar (AITA secretary general) had called me and said he won’t send the nomination since I said no to the Davis Cup,” Nagal said on Monday. “To be honest, getting this call from him and hearing him say this was a bummer. I really hope things will get better in future or else tennis is going to die even faster in India.”
Earlier last month, Nagal had opted out of the away Davis Cup tie against Pakistan, scheduled to be played in February. But the talented youngster made it clear, that his reason for opting out was different. “My opting out for Davis Cup (tie against Pakistan) was majorly because of it being played on grass,” he said.
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“It is really sad to see this decision coming after looking at my performance in Lucknow and securing the win for the country. I have missed Wimbledon for the same reasons as well in the past.”
Now this means, Nagal will have to go through the qualifiers to make it to the main rounds of the Australian Open 2024. Meanwhile, he is the last singles player from the country to feature in a Grand Slam main draw — Australian Open 2021.
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