Australian Open: Sumit Nagal defeats Alex Molcan to qualify for main draw of season-opening Grand Slam | Tennis News

India’s Sumit Nagal defeated former World No 38 Alex Molcan 6-4, 6-4 in the third and final qualifying round match on Friday to qualify for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year.
The 25-year-old Slovakian had famously defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in a Davis Cup match in World Group I in Greece in September last year.
Nagal is currently ranked 139th in the world ranking in singles. This is the first time he will play in the main round of a Grand Slam event since 2021 (and the fourth overall time).
He had made it to the main round of the US Open in 2019 and 2020, and then featured in the Australian Open main draw in 2021.
Nagal broke Molcan in his opening service game and led 3-0 n the first set before the 26-year-old from Slovakia broke back and levelled at 3-3. Nagal though held his nerve and won the opening set 6-4 after an intense 51 minutes.
In the second round of qualifying, the Indian had defeated Australian Edward Winter, a wild card, a 6-3, 6-2 scoreline in a match that lasted one hour and four minutes.