On his Miami debut, India No.1 and World No.97 Sumit Nagal put together a masterful performance to beat the 6ft 8in Canadian Gabriel Diallo, ranked 133rd, 7-6(3) 6-2. There were no breaks of serve in the first set, which was decided by a tiebreak. Nagal did well to save two break points during the set, and then stepped up his game in the tiebreak to keep Diallo at bay, winning the tiebreak seven points to three.
Nagal started the second set in emphatic fashion, breaking the tall Canadian to 15 in the very first game. It was smooth sailing for Nagal thereafter, as he held serve without much trouble for the rest of the set, and put pressure on each of Diallo’s service games to break him once more, reaching the finish line.
Nagal’s former coach Bobby Mahal and Rohan Bopanna were in attendance
In the second and final qualifying round, Nagal will take on the 212th ranked wildcard Coleman Wong from Hong Kong, who upset 85th ranked Frenchman Hugo Gaston. Nagal played against Wong at the ATP Bengaluru Challenger in February this year, winning 6-2 7-5. The match will be played on Tuesday.