Focus shifts to the Indian wildcard pairing of Divij Sharan and Karan Singh, who defeated Bulgaria’s Dimitar Kuzmanov and Kazakhstan’s Denis Yevseyev 7-6 (5), 6-4 to enter the last eight.
Heartbreak for Indian tennis fans as Sumit Nagal was knocked out in the second round of the Delhi Open 2026 on Thursday. The prize money ATP Challenger is being played at DLTA Complex.
India’s No 1 in men’s singles, Nagal went down fighting to sixth seed Federico Cina of Italy 4-6, 4-6 in one hour 40 minutes.
The 18-year-old Italian ranked No. 225 in the world broke Nagal in the opening game and maintained the advantage to take the first set 6-4. The Italian then raced to a 5-1 lead in the second set and looked set to cruise into the last eight. However, Nagal, ranked No. 297, saved three match points in the seventh game and cut the deficit to 5-4. Cina stayed composed and held serve in the 10th game to seal a 6-4, 6-4 win in one hour and 40 minutes.
Nagal was the home team’s best bet in the tournament as several Indians players had bow-out earlier in the competition. After Nagal’s exit, no Indian player is in the race for men’s singles title.
The focus now shifts to the Indian wildcard pairing of Divij Sharan and Karan Singh, who defeated Bulgaria’s Dimitar Kuzmanov and Kazakhstan’s Denis Yevseyev 7-6 (5), 6-4 to enter the last eight.
In the doubles draw, top seeds Siddhant Banthia (India) and Alexander Donski (Bulgaria) advanced to the quarterfinals.
Elsewhere in the singles draw, third seed Jay Clarke and fifth seed Oliver Crawford, both from Great Britain, and eighth seed Rio Noguchi of Japan, won their matches in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals.
Second seed Rei Sakamoto of Japan came from 3-0 down in the final set to score a 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over Great Britain’s Alastair Gray while seventh seed Daniel Michalski of Poland was upset by Belgium’s Michael Geerts 7-6(8), 6-4.
In the doubles draw, the top-seeded duo of Banthia and Donski advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Francis Casey Alcantara and Courtney John Lock.
India’s Somdev Devvarman had won back-to-back singles titles in 2014 and 2015.
India has also produced all-Indian doubles champions twice in the past, with Saketh Myneni/Sanam Singh and Yuki Bhambri/Mahesh Bhupathi lifting the trophy in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
As part of the ATP Challenger 75 series, the tournament will award 75 ranking points to the singles and doubles champions, 44 points to the singles runner-up, and 50 points to the doubles runners-up. The singles champion will receive $17,000 in prize money, with the runner-up earning $9,600. The doubles champions will split $4,980, while the runners-up will split $2,880.
EOM
