India’s No. 1 men’s singles player moves into the field for Flushing Meadows qualifying, ending a run of four straight missed majors, after Jack Draper’s injury withdrawal opened a spot in the draw.
Sumit Nagal is heading back to the season’s final Grand Slam. India’s top-ranked men’s singles player has moved into the 2026 US Open Men’s Singles Qualifying Draw, benefiting from British player Jack Draper’s withdrawal from the tournament — and ending a run that saw him sit out four consecutive majors.
How Nagal Got In
Draper, a former world No. 4 who reached the US Open semifinals in 2024, withdrew from this year’s tournament on August 21 due to a recurring bone-bruising injury in his left arm — an issue that has now cost him every Grand Slam of the 2026 season. Because Draper’s own ranking had slipped to the 140s this year, he was set to play qualifying rather than enter the main draw directly, meaning his withdrawal freed up a direct spot in the qualifying field rather than the main draw itself.
That opening moved down the list to Nagal, who had been sitting just outside the cutoff as an alternate. It’s a reminder of how fluid Grand Slam qualifying fields are in the days before a tournament — cutoffs shift constantly as higher-ranked players pull out through injury or scheduling changes, and alternates who stay ready reap the benefit.
A Clay-Court Summer Fuels the Climb
Nagal’s return to Slam qualifying hasn’t come out of nowhere — it’s been built match by match on the European Challenger circuit through the summer. Highlights from his 2026 season include:
- Târgu Mureș Challenger title in June, defeating Felix Balshaw in the final
- A semifinal run in Liberec in early August
That run of results has pulled his ranking back to the No. 239 mark, up from outside the top 300 for much of 2025, and squarely back in range of Grand Slam qualifying contention.
The Four-Slam Absence
Nagal last featured in Grand Slam qualifying at Wimbledon 2025. Since then, his ranking slide kept him out of the US Open 2025, Australian Open 2026, French Open 2026, and Wimbledon 2026 qualifying fields — four consecutive majors missed for a player who once cracked the world’s top 70.
What’s Next: The Road Through Flushing Meadows
US Open qualifying is scheduled to run August 24–27 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, ahead of the main draw, which begins August 30 and runs through September 13. Qualifying is free to attend as part of the tournament’s Fan Week.
Nagal will need to win three rounds in New York to reach the US Open main draw for the first time since his breakout run there in 2019 and 2020 — a stretch that included his memorable Grand Slam debut against Roger Federer.
Why It Matters for Indian Tennis
With Nagal’s career-high ranking of world No. 68 (July 2024) still fresh in memory, this return to Slam qualifying is a meaningful data point in a season that’s otherwise been a grind back up the rankings. A deep qualifying run in New York — or a maiden Slam main-draw appearance since 2024 — would be a timely boost heading into the closing stretch of the 2026 season.
Indian Tennis Daily will have full coverage of Sumit Nagal’s qualifying campaign in New York, including draw updates and match reports, as the tournament unfolds.