Olympic-bound <keyword id="19926485" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sumit-Nagal" source="keywords">Sumit Nagal</keyword> continued his ascent in the ATP singles chart, climbing to a <keyword id="22433489" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="career-high" source="keywords">career-high</keyword> ranking of 68. The 26-year-old rose five spots in the latest <keyword id="22082986" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ATP-ranking" source="keywords">ATP ranking</keyword> list released on Monday. His previous best was 71. Nagal thus moves past former world No. 71 Sashi Menon to become the fourth highest-ranked <keyword id="19927125" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian" source="keywords">Indian</keyword> man since 1973. <keyword id="20211877" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vijay-Amritraj" source="keywords">Vijay Amritraj</keyword> (ranked 18th in 1980), <keyword id="20211879" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ramesh-Krishnan" source="keywords">Ramesh Krishnan</keyword> (ranked 23rd in 1985) and <keyword id="20211878" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Somdev-Devvarman" source="keywords">Somdev Devvarman</keyword> (ranked 62nd in 2011) are the only other Indian players who have held a higher rank than Nagal. A string of impressive results in recent times has not only helped Nagal improve his ranking but also make the cut for singles event at the <keyword id="20242595" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Paris-Games" source="keywords">Paris Games</keyword>. Nagal, who will be the sole Indian in the men's singles event at the Paris <keyword id="19933819" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Olympics" source="keywords">Olympics</keyword>, has so far logged 779 ATP points. The year began with a win against Alexander Bublik, the 31st seed from Kazkakhstan at the Australian Open. He also competed at the French Open and Wimbledon. He had won the men's singles crown at the Heilbronn Neckarcup 2024 Challenger event in Germany earlier this month and the Chennai Open in February. Nagal, who is currently the best-ranked Indian singles player, has won four ATP Challenger titles since 2023 and Heilbronn was his fourth title on clay.

Sumit Nagal attains career-high ATP ranking of 68

India's <keyword id="6355013" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tennis" source="Orion">tennis</keyword> campaign at the <keyword id="20006192" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Paris-Olympics" source="keywords">Paris Olympics</keyword> lasted just one day as <keyword id="19926485" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sumit-Nagal" source="keywords">Sumit Nagal</keyword> and the men's doubles pair of <keyword id="19895238" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rohan-Bopanna" source="keywords">Rohan Bopanna</keyword> and <keyword id="20253721" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="N-Sriram-Balaji" source="keywords">N Sriram Balaji</keyword> bowed out after losing their respective opening matches to French challengers on Sunday. Nagal was first to take court, but his strong baseline game didn't seem to be enough against mercurial Corentin Moutet, who earned a stylish three-set win. In his second appearance at the Olympic Games, Nagal bounced back after losing the first set but fell 2-6 6-4 5-7 in two hours and 28 minutes at a packed court seven at the Roland Garros. In the Tokyo Games, Nagal had lost in the second round to Russian Daniil Medvedev but could not make the most of a manageable opener today. He was up 2-0 in the decider with an early break but allowed Moutet to claw his way back and win. Later in the day, Bopanna and Balaji went down fighting 5-7 2-6 against Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Gael Monfils, who replaced injured Fabien Reboul in the home team at the last minute. India have won only one Olympic medal in tennis, when <keyword id="20346818" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Leander-Paes" source="keywords">Leander Paes</keyword> bagged a bronze in the 1996 Atlanata Games. Monfils' big-hitting helped the home team that was egged on by the partisan crowd. It was probably the last time Bopanna represented India in a multi-sport event. The 44-year-old has already announced his retirement from Davis Cup. The doubles match featured several fiery baseline exchanges between Bopanna and both the French players. The French ploy of engaging Bopanna in long rallies from the back took Balaji out of the picture on many points, and it largely denied the debutant opportunity of a quick finish at the net. The Indians dropped serve first when Bopanna went down 0-40 in game six following a long rally that ended with Indian team's unforced error. Bopanna and Balaji though got the break back in the next game on Roger-Vasselin's serve. Down by a breakpoint, Monfils could not put away a volley. The match was back on serve. Eventually, Balaji came out to serve at 5-6 to stay in the set. Feeling the nerves, he struggled to put first serves in and committed a double fault to get to 15-30. A long rally ensued, which ended in home team's favour. At second set point, Bopanna netted a backhand volley. Balaji could not hold serve in the second set, as Bopanna too stuggled to cope with the powerful strokes of the French players. The match ended with Indian team's unforced error. It has always been a battle of attrition between Nagal and Moutet with three of their last four outings being three-set affairs and it was no different today. Nagal had got the better of Moutet in their last meeting in Grand Prix of Hassan in the Moroccan city of Marakkech in April this year. Nagal didn't seem to have a plan B but Moutet had a few tricks in his bag to unsettle his rival. He served underarm a number of times and used the drop shots, the forehand slice and the backhand slice very effectively. The chants of Coco-Coco, Aaale-Aaale and Moutet-Moutet certainly gave the home player the energy required in such a slugfest. Nagal had a nervy start with a boisterous crowd behind Moutet. A drop volley error at 30-all put him down by a break point. Another unforced error cost him the opening game. The French player began with an underarm serve, much to the amusement of the home fans. He, however, ended up serving a double fault. It was an easy hold for the southpaw even as Nagal also bounced back with a hold at love. Nagal said he was expecting underarm serves from him but obviously didn't appreciate that. Moutet struggled a bit with his first serve but fed Nagal a lot of high balls and attacked his backhand more to build on the break. Nagal had his chances to get the break back in game four but squandered four breakpoints. He was down by another break point in game five but saved and held when Moutet just missed the line with his return. The crowd favourite again amused the gathered supporters at court seven as he crossed over the court to check the spot if the ball landed inside the line. It was crucial for Nagal to hold serve after falling behind 2-4 but he erred on overhead volley at breakpoint. Moutet pocketed the opening set when Nagal'a forehand return soared over the baseline. The second set was not a one-way traffic with Nagal finding his rhythm. The free points were not given. The set remained in serve till game five. After playing two deuce points, Moutet again served underarm, and this time he got the point as Nagal netted the return. Nagal was furious but the crowd loved the moment. Nagal finally had his first break of the match when Moutet's dropped shot crashed into the net. Before that on the second break point, when he netted the return, Nagal had banged his racquet on the court, letting go of the frustration. However, he gathered himself with the crucial break. The crowd stood and began singing the national anthem to egg on their favourite. Nagal though, consolidated the lead with a hold and levelled the match by breaking his rival in game eight when Moutet netted a volley return. The French player yet again resorted to giving high balls and drop shots to Nagal to break the momentum, and almost succeeded, but Nagal too stuck to his guns, avoiding an early break. He then broke Moutet when he double faulted while facing his fourth break point. Leading 2-0 in the decider, Nagal had a perfect opportunity to run away with the match but found himself down 0-40. He saved the first breakpoint but a drive volley error from him meant that the set was back on serve. Serving at 5-5, Nagal began by netting a forehand, and Moutet found a stunning forehand slice passing-winner on the run. Another forehand error put Nagal down by three break points. He lost fourth point in a row when he could not pick up a half volley. It was not difficult from there for Moutet to close the match. He will play either Australian world number six Alex di Minaur or Germany's Jan-Lenard Struff next.

India's tennis campaign at the Paris Olympics ends in a single day as Nagal, Bopanna and Balaji bow out

Indo-American tennis player Samir Banerjee lifted the <keyword id="6437049" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="wimbledon">Wimbledon</keyword> boys' singles title on Sunday, a remarkable triumph for the youngster who was testing his skills in a Grand Slam for only the second time in his fledgling career. All of 17, the player from New Jersey just wanted to win a match at the biggest stage in the junior circuit, but little did he know that he would be the last boy standing at the hallowed grass courts. And that too when he did not have his coach Carlos Esteban with him since his wife had reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. Up against compatriot Victor Lilov, the teenager won 7-5 6-3 in the summit clash that lasted one hour 22 minutes. He broke his rival thrice and dropped serve only once in the facile triumph. "It's going to be amazing, this trophy is going to be my centrepiece, I'm going to look at this and be inspired to keep playing and hopefully come back here as a pro," he was quoted as saying by the Wimbledon website. "I really just wanted to win a round, I didn't expect this. I had a tough French Open, lost to a good player. "So here I just wanted to keep my expectations low so that if I passed them, then I'd be happy. But this was way beyond my wildest dreams," he said to a round of applause from the crowd. Since the coach was unavailable, Banerjee 's uncle Kanad accompanied him. "My uncle is here, he's not technically a tennis coach, but if these results keep happening then I should start travelling with him more," he said jokingly. As Lilov's backhand sailed over the baseline on match-point, Banerjee dropped his racquet, put both his hands on his head in disbelief as if to say that this was not what he expected to do but still accomplished. "Remember the name - Samir Banerjee. The American wins his first junior Grand Slam singles title by beating Victor Lilov in the boys' singles final," the official twitter handle of the Championships posted. Legendary Indian tennis player <keyword id="9032" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vijay-Amritraj">Vijay Amritraj</keyword> congratulated Banerjee. "Wonderful win for Indian American 17 yr old <keyword id="11617058" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="samir-bannerjee">Samir Bannerjee</keyword> in the boys singles at Wimbledon 2021. Wish him well for a great future," the 67-year old who reached singles quarterfinals at Wimbledon and US Open tweeted. Banerjee's father Kunal was born in Assam, and his mother Usha was brought up in Andhra Pradesh before both migrated to the USA in the mid-1980s and got married there. The youngster, reportedly, will take a break from the tour to enroll for a degree in either economics or political science at the <keyword id="127671" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Columbia-University">Columbia University</keyword> in the coming months. While Banerjee's victory is a testament to the system that <keyword id="100889" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="US-Tennis-Association">US Tennis Association</keyword> has put in place, India has been struggling to field a worthy contender at junior Grand Slams for some time now. Due to the lack of a robust domestic circuit and not having enough competitions at home to earn world ranking points, India has been struggling to create the next crop of youngsters. <keyword id="41004" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Yuki-Bhambri">Yuki Bhambri</keyword> was the last Indian to win a junior singles title when he triumphed at the Australian Open in 2009 while Sumit Nagal won the Wimbledon boys' doubles event in 2015 with Vietnam's Ly Hoang Nam. Ramanathan Krishnan was the first Indian to win a junior major when he won the 1954 Junior Wimbledon championship. His son Ramesh Krishnan won the 1970 junior Wimbledon and junior French Open titles while Leander Paes won the 1990 junior Wimbledon and junior US Open. Paes was also a runner-up at the junior Australian Open. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/anthony-hopkins-new-film-will-be-sold-as-an-nft-heres-what-that-means-for-creators-and-the-ones-buying-it/articleshow/84289910.cms">Anthony Hopkins’ new film will be sold as an NFT — here’s what that means for creators and the ones buying it</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/twitter-releases-its-first-india-transparency-report-under-new-it-rules/articleshow/84316434.cms">Twitter releases its first India Transparency Report under new IT rules</a>

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Sumit Nagal attains career-high ATP ranking of 68

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India's tennis campaign at the Paris Olympics ends in a single day as Nagal, Bopanna and Balaji bow out

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Indian-American tennis player Samir Banerjee lifts Wimbledon boys' singles title

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The entire list and a brief profile of 'Delhi ke nirmata'⁠— the makers of Delhi felicitated at Kejriwal's oath taking ceremony

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