Sumit Nagal handed wildcard for Dubai Championship main draw

Nagal will be up against Lorenzo Sonego of Italy, currently world number 49, in the opening round.

Indian tennis star Sumit Nagal has received a wildcard for the main draw of the Dubai Championship, an ATP 500 event.

India's Sumit Nagal celebrates a point against Italy's Stefano Napolitano during a tennis semi-final match of Bengaluru Open 2024 (PTI)

While the qualifiers of the tournament began on Saturday, the main draw matches get underway on Monday.

Nagal will be up against Lorenzo Sonego of Italy, currently world number 49, in the opening round.

The 26-year-old Indian has had a remarkable run this year, qualifying for the main draw of the Australian Open last month, where he made it to Round 2 after beating Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan. He became the first Indian since 1989 to knock off a seeded player in a Grand Slam.

He attained his career-high ranking of 98 earlier this month, but dropped to 101st, despite having won the Chennai Open last week, an ATP Challenger event.

As for the Dubai Championship, Daniil Medvedev of Russia is the top seed, followed by his fellow countryman Andrey Rublev, Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, Karen Khachanov of Russia, Ugo Humbert and Adrian Mannarino of France, Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain.

Other players who were handed wildcards include Gael Monfils of France and Abedallah Shelbayh of Jordan.