California: Ace Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal brushed past the challenge of American wildcard Stefan Dostanic in straight sets in his first outing at the Indian Wells Masters here. The India number one beat Dostanic in straight sets 6-2 6-2 in the first round of the qualifying on Monday.
Seeded eighth, Nagal took 68 minutes to emerge winner on his Indian Wells debut without facing a single break point in the entire match. By making the final qualifying round, Nagal assured himself of 10 ranking points and USD 14,400 prize money. Nagal made history by becoming the first Indian men's singles player in a decade to advance to the second round of the Australian Open.
He also won the Chennai Challengers title, entering the top 100 rankings following the triumph. However, he suffered reverses in Pune and Dubai. Nagal will take on Seong-chan Hong in the second qualifying round on Tuesday. In a Korean derby, Hong got the better of Seong-chan Hong 6-3 6-3 to set up a clash with Nagal for a place in the main draw.
Enjoying a good run of form, Hong made 2 ATP Challenger level finals this year, including in Bengaluru recently.
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