Indian No. 1 Sumit Nagal has given an update after he was blocked from entering China to compete in an Australian Open wildcard playoff event. The former world No. 68 took to social media to plead for help after his visa was rejected “without reason” just days before the tournament got underway.

Nagal urged the Chinese ambassador to India and the Chinese embassy in India to step in. After an “urgent” appeal, the Indian tennis star has successfully received a visa to travel to China ahead of the playoffs in Chengdu, which kick off on November 24.

On Tuesday, Nagal took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to draw attention to his situation. He started his post with an ‘urgent’ tag before mentioning the relevant authorities by tagging their official profiles.

“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,” the current world No. 275 wrote.

His plea worked, and Nagal shared a follow-up post thanking the two authorities, plus the Sports Authority of India and the Ministry of Affairs in India “for their prompt help in helping me secure the visa in time”.

The Asia-Pacific wildcard playoff sees players from the region face off for an Australian Open main draw wildcard. This year’s tournament is being staged at the Sichuan International Tennis Centre in Chengdu.

The men’s and women’s singles draws each contain 16 players, while there are 12 teams in the doubles draws. Last year, Zhang Shuai and Kasidit Samrej won places in the main draw of the 2025 Australian Open.

It was Samrej’s first appearance at a Grand Slam tournament in any capacity. The Thai star suffered a five-set defeat to teenage qualifier Learnier Tien in the first round. Tien went on to upset former world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev and has enjoyed a breakthrough season.

Nagal already has experience at the Majors. He famously took a set off of Roger Federer at the 2019 US Open before losing in four. He got his first Grand Slam main draw win in Flushing Meadows a year later, and reached the second round of the Australian Open in 2024, upsetting Alexander Bublik.