The men’s singles draw for the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya is out, with Sumit Nagal and Dhakshineswar Suresh placed in opposite halves of the draw, meaning they can only meet in the gold-medal match.
Both Indians have received first-round byes, leaving them needing three wins after their opening matches to guarantee a medal. The singles event will be played from September 27 to October 3 at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center.
Sumit Nagal — 7th seed
Nagal enters the tournament as the 7th seed and is ranked No. 248 on the draw sheet.
His campaign begins in the second round against Hong Seongchan of Korea (ATP No. 1081), whose ranking does not reflect his career-best level. The Korean has previously reached No. 139 and was a bronze medallist at the 2022 Asian Games.
A potential third-round opponent is 9th seed Sergey Fomin of Uzbekistan (ATP No. 288).
Should Nagal reach the quarter-finals, 3rd seed Wu Yibing of China (ATP No. 113) is the highest-ranked player in his section and the likely opponent. Wu has been as high as No. 54 and won silver at the 2018 Asian Games.
The other players in Nagal’s quarter include Muhammad Rifqi Fitriadi (16th seed, ATP No. 541), Pakistan’s Muhammad Shoaib and Iran’s Ali Yazdani.
A semi-final could potentially bring 2nd seed Alexander Shevchenko (ATP No. 109) or 8th seed Hayato Matsuoka (ATP No. 249).
Dhakshineswar Suresh — 11th seed
Dhakshineswar Suresh is the 11th seed and ranked No. 359 on the draw sheet.
He will begin against Indonesia’s Muhammad Gunawan Trismuwantara (ATP No. 2149).
A much tougher challenge could await in the third round, where 6th seed Tseng Chun-Hsin of Chinese Taipei (ATP No. 212) is the leading name in his section.
The potential quarter-final is particularly intriguing. 4th seed Kwon Soonwoo of Korea (ATP No. 158) could await Suresh, setting up a rematch from last week’s Davis Cup tie in Seoul, where Kwon defeated the Indian in three sets.
Also in the section is 14th seed Khumoyun Sultanov of Uzbekistan (ATP No. 437), the men’s singles bronze medallist from the 2022 Asian Games.
The top quarter of the draw features top seed Coleman Wong of Hong Kong (ATP No. 108), with 5th seed Timofey Skatov (ATP No. 199) and 13th seed Yosuke Watanuki of Japan (ATP No. 400) also in contention.
The road to the medals
With the losing semi-finalists both awarded bronze, the quarter-finals are the key medal stage for both Indians.
For Nagal, the potential route includes Hong Seongchan, Fomin and then Wu Yibing. For Suresh, Trismuwantara and potentially Tseng Chun-Hsin stand between him and a quarter-final against Kwon Soonwoo.
With both Indians in opposite halves, a Nagal-Suresh final remains possible — but first, both will have to navigate their respective sections of a draw featuring several players with significantly higher career rankings and previous Asian Games experience.