India’s Sumit Nagal on Tuesday said staying fit and breaking into the top-100 in world tennis rankings will be his focus ahead of the Paris Olympics later this year.

The 26-year-old from Haryana has had his share of brushes with injuries in the past, having missed qualifying for the 2018 US Open due to an injury. In 2021, he suffered a hip injury before undergoing surgery in November of that year.

“Staying fit would be the highest priority. The second (goal) would be to play in the Olympics, which would be a nice feeling. But for that, you need to be within the top 100,” Nagal said during the ongoing Chennai Open ATP Challenger event, where he is through to the pre-quarter finals.

Currently ranked 121 in the ATP singles, Nagal is confident of breaking into the top 100. “It (Olympic qualification) would only be possible if I keep winning matches. I have to focus on upcoming matches and not wonder about what’s going to happen in the next five months because tennis is a very unpredictable sport where anything can happen. I like to keep short goals.”

He drew eyeballs after making it to the main draw of the Australian Open last month, where he won his opening match before losing in the following round.

Nagal admitted that he gained a lot of confidence with the first-round win. “I gained a lot of confidence in terms of tennis, and physically and mentally too, going to the court and carrying the pressure.”