India No.1 Sumit Nagal has been granted a wildcard to compete in the ATP 500 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Nagal has been having a historic season so far, cracking the Top 100 and putting together a remarkable run at the Australian Open.
In the 1st round, Nagal will square off against world no. 49 Lorenzo Sonego.
The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships has a rich history of supporting Indian Tennis players with wildcards. Just last week during the WTA 1000 event, the tournament offered India’s Women’s No.1, Ankita Raina, a singles qualifying wildcard, and Ankita and Prarthana Thombare a doubles main draw wildcard. The tournament had also offered singles main draw wildcards to the likes of Somdev Devvarman (2x), Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Ramkumar Ramanathan, and Yuki Bhambri.
Interestingly, playing as a wildcard in 2011, Somdev Devvarman drew top seed Roger Federer in the 1st round, losing 3-6 3-6 in a memorable match for Indian Tennis fans.
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