Remember India’s top-ranked singles tennis player Sumit Nagal, who in September 2023 spoke about having left with less than ₹1 lakh in his bank account? Nagal had said he had to invest all his prize money, his salary from IOCL, and the support he gets from the Maha Tennis Foundation to keep his ATP Tour going on.
He had mentioned all his expenditure goes into his stay at the training center in Peine and his travel for tournaments, that too with either his coach or a physio.
Left with just 900 euros (approx ₹80,000) at that time, Nagal had claimed he may not be able to train at his favorite place – Nansel Tennis Academy in Germany – in the first three months of season 2023.
“If I look at my bank balance, I have what I had at the beginning of the year. It is 900 euros (approx ₹80,000). I did get a bit of help. Mr Prashant Sutar is helping me with MAHA Tennis Foundation and I also get monthly (salary) from IOCL but I don’t have any big sponsor,” PTI quoted Nagal as saying.
After the interview, the Indian tennis player received help from leading beverage company PepsiCo India and the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA). This helped him carry on his journey in the Australian Open.
ALSO READ: ‘If I look at my bank balance, it is 900 euros’: India’s number 1 tennis player Sumit Nagal
Good news:
Now, Nagal don’t have to bother about the finance anymore, as he stunned World Number 27 Alexander Bublik of Kazakstan on 16 January to reach the second round of the Australian Open 2024.
Nagal defeated Bublik by 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), in a match that lasted two hours and 38 minutes.
Nagal did not get a wildcard entry to the Australian Open, he took part in the qualification matches and with three wins on the trot. This led to boom his berth and also he ended up earning around AUD 120,000.
Now by beating Bublik Nagal, he earned another AUD 180,000 ( ₹98 lakh approximately). Also, he reached the second round of the Australian Open for the first time. He will be face wildcard Juncheng Shang of China in the second round and if he wins the match, he will earn somewhere around AUD 255,000.
This would be Nagal’s first ever progression to the Australian Open second round. In 2021, he had lost to Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis in the opening round 2-6, 5-7, 3-6.
In 2023, Nagal earned about 65 lakh in 24 tournaments played, and the biggest pay cheque came from the US Open where he lost the first round of the Qualifiers and still pocketed $22,000 (approx ₹18 lakh).
With agency inputs.
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Published: 16 Jan 2024, 09:33 PM IST