BRISBANE, Australia — The highest Indian males’s tennis participant is suing Chinese language authorities after he says he has been denied a visa to play within the Australian Open wild-card playoff match that begins Nov. 24 in Chengdu.
Sumit Nagar took to social media to attraction to China’s ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, and the Chinese language embassy to intervene on his behalf.
“I’ll quickly be flying to China to signify India within the Australian Open playoffs,” Nagal posted on Tuesday. “Nonetheless, my visa was refused for no cause. I might respect your speedy assist.”
Australian Open officers have been requested for touch upon Wednesday. The 2026 Australian Open, the primary Grand Slam match of the 12 months, begins in Melbourne on January 18th.
Relations between Asia’s two powerhouses and the world’s two largest populations have just lately improved. India and China final month deliberate to renew direct flights between some cities after a five-year suspension as relations start to fix.
The Press Belief of India reported that there was no speedy response from the embassy or playoff organizers.
One of many highlights of the 28-year-old Nagal’s profession was successful the primary set on the US Open in opposition to Roger Federer in 2019. Nonetheless, Federer gained the following three units and superior to the second spherical.
Nagal had a career-high singles rating of 68th in July 2024, however his present rating is 290th. He’s a member of the Indian Davis Cup staff since 2018.
She misplaced within the first spherical on the Australian Open in January, failing to qualify for the French Open and Wimbledon. He gained the boys’s doubles title at Wimbledon in 2015 with Vietnam’s Lee Hoang Nam, turning into the sixth Indian participant to win a Junior Grand Slam title.
The Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wild Card Playoffs are scheduled for November 24-29 on the Sichuan Worldwide Tennis Middle. Males’s and ladies’s singles will likely be performed by 16 groups, and males’s and ladies’s doubles will likely be performed by 12 groups.
Final 12 months’s Asia-Pacific playoffs, additionally held in Chengdu, noticed China’s Zhang Shuai and Thailand’s Kasidit Samrej safe spots in the principle draw of the 2025 Australian Open.
Zhang defeated American McCartney Kessler within the first spherical in Melbourne, however misplaced to twenty fourth seed Yulia Putintseva within the second spherical. Samrej, who had by no means performed at a Grand Slam venue or certified, was eradicated within the first spherical after defeating fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev in 5 units.
