BRISBANE, Australia – India’s top-ranked male tennis player is appealing to Chinese authorities after saying he has been denied a visa to play in an Australian Open wildcard playoff tournament starting Nov. 24 in Chengdu.
Sumit Nagal accepted it social media to ask Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong and the Chinese Embassy to intervene on his behalf.
“I have to fly to China soon to represent India in the Australian Open play-offs,” Nagal posted on Tuesday. “But my visa was rejected for no reason. Your urgent assistance would be greatly appreciated.”
Australian Open officials were asked for comment on Wednesday. The 2026 Australian Open, the first Grand Slam event of the year, starts on January 18 in Melbourne.
Relations between the two Asian powers and with the world’s two largest populations have improved recently. India and China last month planned to resume direct flights between some of their cities after a five-year suspension, as relations between the two countries begin to thaw.
Press Trust of India reported that there had been no immediate response from the embassy or the play-off organizers.
One of the 28-year-old Nagal’s career highlights was winning the opening set of a US Open match against Roger Federer in 2019. But Federer won the next three sets to advance to the second round.
Nagal had a singles ranking of No. 68 in July 2024, but his current ranking is 290. Since 2018, he has been part of the Indian Davis Cup team.
In January, he lost in the first round at the Australian Open and failed to qualify for the French Open and Wimbledon. He won the 2015 Wimbledon boys’ doubles title with Vietnam’s Ly Hoang Nam, becoming the sixth Indian player to win a junior Grand Slam title.
The Australian Open’s Asia-Pacific wildcard play-off is scheduled from November 24 to 29 at the Sichuan International Tennis Centre. It is a men’s and women’s singles event with 16 players and 12 teams in men’s and women’s doubles.
In last year’s Asia-Pacific play-off, also held in Chengdu, China’s Zhang Shuai and Thailand’s Kasidit Samrej secured places in the main draw of the 2025 Australian Open.
Zhang defeated American McCartney Kessler in the first round in Melbourne before losing to 24th seed Yulia Putintseva in the second round. Samrej, who had never competed at a Grand Slam venue, not even in qualifying, extended fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev to five sets before losing in the first round.
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