Nagal to play Czech Republic's Machac in Australian Open first round

Melbourne: India's highest-ranked singles tennis player Sumit Nagal will take on Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic in the opening round of the Australian Open, beginning here on Sunday.

The 27-year-old Nagal, currently 96th on the ATP, made it to the main draw of the season-opening Grand Slam by virtue of being among the 104 highest-ranked players in the world.

The player from Haryana, then ranked 137th, had scored a stunning straight-sets win over No. 27 Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik in the opening round of the Australian Open last year before going down to China's Juncheng Shang.

He made an early exit in the Auckland ASB Classic -- a tuneup event for the Australian Open -- on Monday losing to USA's Alex Michelsen 7-6 (8), 4-6, 2-6 in a gruelling two-hour, 40-minute battle.

Nagal was in the news recently for once again refusing to play for the country in the Davis Cup. PTI AM AM ATK ATK