Australian Open 2024: Sumit Nagal Run Ends With Second Round Defeat To Shang Juncheng

Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal's run at the Australian Open 2024 ended following a hard-fought loss to China's Shang Juncheng in the men's singles second round at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne on Thursday (January 18).

The world number 137 Nagal claimed the first set, but the 140th ranked Chinese player Shang fought back from a set down to win the remaining three sets to clinch the second round match 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in 2 hours and 50 minutes on Court 13.

Juncheng, who looked faultless since dropping the first set, will next face one of the favourites and second seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the third round later this week.

Shang attempted to outmanoeuvre Nagal with a strong forehand play, but the Indian replied back to outplay his opponents at his own game. Nagal took advantage of Shang by forcing him to play a backhand stroke which led to a number of forced errors.

Nagal running high on confidence soon got a reality check with Shang showcasing a strong serve game. The Indian tennis star replied back to make it 1-1, but Shang went on to break Nagal's serve and win the next three games.

The Indian tried to rally back and push for a late comeback, but Shang kept his composure to bring the tie back to parity. Nagal with a hunger to get back into the lead gave a strong fight to world no. 140. Both players toiled hard to break each other's serve.

Eventually, the young Chinese sensation held his nerve to win back-to-back games and move into the lead for the first time. The second consecutive defeat left Nagal with no other option but to emerge victorious in the fourth set.

Once again the set looked poised ot go down to the wire. With the scoreline reading 4-4, Shang shifted through gears forcing Nagal to switch from forehand to backhand. He sealed the game with a service ace and moved to the third round.

Earlier in the first round, Nagal had secured a historic win after he stunned 31st seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan to enter the men's singles second round on Tuesday (January 16).

The 26-year-old, who had to go through qualifiers to reach the main draw, defeated the Kazakh by straight sets 6-4,6-2, 7-6 (7-5) in the men's singles opening round match that lasted 2 hours and 37 minutes on court 6.

That feat saw Nagal end India's 11-year wait to reach the second round in the Australian Open, matching Somdev Devvarman's feat in 2013 Australian Open.

Nagal, who is the top-ranked Indian singles player, had defeated Slovakia's Alex Molcan in the final qualifying match to make it to the main draw. He had not dropped a single set in three matches of qualifying to reach the main draw.

This was Nagal's second main draw appearance in the season's first Grand Slam after his entry in 2021, when he lost the campaign opener to Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis.