India's Sumit Nagal defeated World No. 31 Alexander Bublik 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(5) in straight sets and advanced to the 2nd round of the Australian Open on Tuesday.
With Tuesday's match, Nagal became the first Indian since Ramesh Krishnan at the 1989 Australian Open to beat a seeded player at a Grand Slam.
Sumit Nagal, from India's Haryana state, ranks 137th in the world rankings. But he has displayed remarkable composure and resilience from the beginning.
Nagal recovered from a series of injuries and increased his ranking to 122 after being ranked outside the top 500 for much of last year.
Nagal's win is a landmark victory for Indian tennis as well, as he became only the fifth Indian in the men's singles category to reach the second round of the Australian Open.
Nagal is all set to face the winner of the Mackenzie McDonald and Shang Juncheng match in the second round of Australian Open 2024 on Thursday, Jan 18.