New Delhi: India’s highest-ranked tennis player, Sumit Nagal, has reached out to the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi over an unexpected visa rejection ahead of the Australian Open playoffs’ crucial tournament appearance.
At stake is Nagal’s entry into the 2026 Australian Open as a wildcard. He was to take part in the 2026 Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wildcard Playoff (AWP) in Chengdu, China.
The 28-year-old tagged the Chinese envoy as well as the embassy spokesperson in his message that was posted on ‘X’, seeking “urgent help”.
[URGENT]
Respected @China_Amb_India and @ChinaSpox_India
I am Sumit Nagal, India’s No.1 Tennis player
I am supposed to fly to China soon to represent India at the Australian Open Playoff. But my visa was rejected without reason
Your urgent help would be much appreciated 🙏🏽
— Sumit Nagal (@nagalsumit) November 11, 2025
The event is scheduled from 24 November.
Nagal’s post has 400,000 views and 1500 reposts till 3pm. The post did not receive any response from the Chinese representatives as of that time.
Last year Nagal broke into ATP world top 100 rankings before dropping to 200s this September. Nagal has the best record in Grand Slam men’s singles events for any Indian in recent times, reaching second round of the 2019 US Open and 2024 Australian Open.
The youngster from Haryana’s Jhajjar trained at Mahesh Bhupathi’s training academy and made his mark internationally when he won 2015 Wimbledon boys’ doubles title. He qualified for Tokyo Olympics singles and reached second round. In doing so, he became the first Indian to win an Olympic singles match in 25 years. Prior to that, Leander Paes had this honor when he claimed the bronze medal at Atlanta in 1996. Nagal also pulled an upset in the 2024 Australian Open by defeating 31st seed Alexander Bublik in straight sets.
Nagal’s visa rejection came even as China and India started operating direct flights between the countries beginning this October, for the first time since the first wave of COVID-19 in 2020. The direct flights remained suspended in view of border clashes between the two countries. IndiGo, India’s largest carrier, added a new flight route between Delhi and China’s Guangzhou starting just yesterday.
Direct flights between India and China have resumed this month after five years of thaw. It followed an earlier discussions in September and October 2025 between two nations, hinting a gradual improvement in bilateral ties.
China Eastern restarted its Shanghai–Delhi service on 9 November with 95% occupancy. IndiGo also began daily Delhi–Guangzhou flights from 10 November. Air travel was suspended in early 2020 due to Covid-19 and later prolonged by border tensions, but ties have gradually eased, including a landmark agreement on border patrols last year.
Aditya GS is an alum of ThePrint School of Journalism, currently interning with ThePrint
(Edited by Varnika Dhawan)
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