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

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>

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

By C Shyam Sundar Chennai, May 20 () The 'big three' of the tennis world won't lose much due to the suspension of professional tours since they have already created their own legacies but the real struggle is for lower-ranked players, including the Indians, says legendary Vijay Amritraj. The men's ATP Tour won't start before August and the WTA Tour is expected to resume not before July 20. Amritraj said the trio of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafel Nadal, who have a tight grip over Grand Slam tournaments, won't feel any financial stress or the pressure of progress. "They won't be affected at all by loss of money or points. They are all chasing each other on number of Grand Slams as they have legacies already in place. They have all made history in their own way," Amritraj told in an e-mail interaction. The Indian tennis legend said the situation is tough for a large pool of players across the globe, specially the ones outside the top-100 bracket. "Everyone in the tennis world will be affected. Players in various ranking categories will be affected in their own way. The lesser players will really struggle to make a strong comeback when this virus is contained. And older players will have lost crucial time," he said. "The Indian players will also be affected exactly like the lower ranked players making it hard to get back in position of fitness, ranking points and cash on hand to get started quickly when it opens up." Amritraj, who is also President of Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA), said whenever tennis action resumes, the most likely scenario would be that fans won't be able to watch live action. "Tennis this year seems a bit distant though the US Open and the delayed French Open seem to still have a date in place. Will have to wait and see if it still happens. "Tennis could potentially return with no fans rest of this year. That's also tentative depending on each country's situation. Social distancing and the fact that players come from different countries makes our sport tougher to run," he said. On Wimbledon being cancelled this year owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, Amritraj, twice a quarterfinalist at the prestigious grass court tournament, said "it is a great disappointment". "It's such a major event on the sporting calendar worldwide. Eagerly look forward to 2021," Amritraj, a noted commentator and who has been associated with Wimbledon for five decades, said. To a question if the so-called pack of challengers which includes the likes of Australian Open finalist Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas and others were any closer to beating the 'Big Three', Amritraj said they were still some way behind. "All the challengers are still catching up. They are the best behind the top three and there are several others as well. But until they start winning the Grand Slam events and that too on a regular basis, which they will, we have to wait and see how the top three maintain their winning record especially as age is not on their side," he said. SS AT

'Big 3' won't be affected much due to COVID-19 pandemic: Vijay Amritraj

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/51055915.cms" /> It’s been a few months that <keyword id="54572" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="PepsiCo">PepsiCo</keyword> quit as the Indian Premier League (IPL)’s title sponsor, but seems like it couldn’t away from the glam world of cricket for long. Pepsico has now bagged a four-year contract and has become the ground sponsor for all one-day international and test matches that would be played in India. 
 
The deal was signed between PepsiCo and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). 
 
The company now plans to display its sports drink brand Gatorade prominently on the ground, company officials told ET. However, financial details were not disclosed by PepsiCo or BCCI. 
 
"We continue to remain committed to sports in India," a PepsiCo spokesperson told ET. 
 
"Recently, we were the exclusive beverage sponsor for the All-Star cricket series, we associated with soccer through the ISL's soccer league and were also the beverage sponsor for the Champions Tennis League started by Vijay Amritraj. Having said that, our association with cricket has become synonymous over the last few years," the spokesperson said. 
 
After a series of match fixing scandals, PepsiCo had terminated its five-year contract as title sponsor for the IPL two years before its contract ended. 
 
Basabdatta Chowdhury, chief operating officer of media buying firm Starcom Mediavest, said: "Cricket is a natural pull factor; specially for marketers with a youth male audience the sport is an obvious choice, given the following it has in the country." 
 
<a href="http://cdn.vyapaari.in/content/uploads/2013/12/pepsico1.png">Image source</a>

You Searched For "Vijay Amritraj" and got 4 results

Sumit Nagal attains career-high ATP ranking of 68

PTI

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

PTI

'Big 3' won't be affected much due to COVID-19 pandemic: Vijay Amritraj

PTI

PepsiCo to become sponsor for all ODIs and test matches in India

BI India Bureau