India's Sumit Nagal appeals to Chinese officials after visa denied for Australian Open wildcard play-off event

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — India's top-ranked male tennis player is appealing to Chinese authorities after saying he was denied a visa to compete in an Australian Open wild-card playoff tournament beginning Nov. 24 in Chengdu.

Sumit Nagal took to social media to ask the Chinese ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, and the Chinese embassy to intervene on his behalf.

"I am supposed to fly to China soon to represent India at the Australian Open playoff," Nagal posted Tuesday. "But my visa was rejected without reason. Your urgent help would be much appreciated."

Australian Open officials were asked for comment on Wednesday. The 2026 Australian Open, the first Grand Slam event of the year, begins Jan. 18 in Melbourne.

Relations between the two Asian powers and with the two largest populations in the world have improved recently. India and China last month planned to resume direct flights between some of their cities after a five-year suspension as the relations between the two countries begin to thaw.

Press Trust of India reported there'd been no immediate response from the embassy or playoff organizers.

One of the 28-year-old Nagal's career highlights was taking the opening set of a U.S. Open match against Roger Federer in 2019. But Federer won the next three sets to advance to the second round.

Nagal had a career-high singles ranking of 68 in July 2024 but his current ranking is 275. He has been a member of India's Davis Cup team since 2018.

In January, he lost in the first round at the Australian Open and failed to make it through qualifying 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 playoff is scheduled for Nov. 24-29 at the Sichuan International Tennis Centre. It's a 16-player men's and women's singles event and 12 teams in men's and women's doubles.

In last year's Asia-Pacific playoff, also held in Chengdu, Zhang Shuai of China 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-seeded Yulia Putintseva in the second. 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.