WATCH: Agitated Alexander Bublik smashes his racket in “crybaby” frustration as Sumit Nagal breaks the Bublik serve repeatedly at the Australian Open

Sumit Nagal is the highest-ranked Indian player in the ATP rankings currently.

WATCH: Agitated Alexander Bublik smashes his racket in “crybaby” frustration as Sumit Nagal breaks the Bublik serve repeatedly at the Australian Open

Alexander Bublik (L), Sumit Nagal (R) (Sources: Twitter, Mint)

India’s highest-rated tennis player, Sumit Nagal, is currently taking on Kazakhstani player Alexander Bublik in the first round of the 2024 Australian Open, and he seemingly has the World No. 27 in a chokehold. 

Nothing is working in favor of the 2023 Antwerp Open champion, and the frustration is clearly visible in his actions. In fact, he broke one of his rackets after losing a game in the second set. 

YouTube video

Nagal performed brilliantly in the first set to start the match on a high. His win in the first set already put Alexander Bublik under a lot of pressure, to begin with, and it led to his committing a number of errors in the second set. 

FS Video

When the Indian won his fourth game of the second set and was on the verge of getting a 2-0 lead, the Kasakhstani player broke his racket by hitting the floor a number of times out of frustration. That, too, was followed by an underarm serve. 

Sumit Nagal currently has a world ranking of 137. He has won two singles titles on the ATP Challenger Tour. He has also won nine singles and two doubles titles in the ITF Futures.

His performance in the first round of the Australian Open so far has impressed the netizens highly, and he is now closing on qualifying for the second round, which will be a major achievement for the Indian. 

Nagal made his Grand Slam main draw debut at the 2019 US Open when he faced Roger Federer in the first round. He lost the match 6-4, 1-6, 2-6, 4-6 but gained the respect of the tennis world. Even Federer praised the youngster for his exceptional performance.

The highest he has gone in a Grand Slam is to the second round. He did so in the 2020 US Open by beating Bradley Klahn in the first round. 

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Fans react to Alexander Bublik smashing his racket during his match against Sumit Nagal 

Fans had expected Alexander Bublik to register an easy win over a much lower-ranked Sumit Nagal but things started to change after the Kazakh lost the first set.

Alexander Bublik
Alexander Bublik (Credit: Tennis World USA)

He crumbled to the pressure easily and the Indian player took full advantage of the same. Fans started calling him a crybaby on social media as soon as he smashed his racket in the second set. 

Bublik mad as hell racket smashing complaining chattering. Nagal has won the mind games this set is ours to lose.
A particular fan wrote on X. 

Sharing a wide spectrum of reactions online, here’s what fans have to say:

Sumit Nagal won the second set 6-2 as well and is now looking to win the first round in straight sets. This will indeed be a major achievement and confidence booster for the Indian if he manages to maintain his composure and pull this off. 

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