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Sumit Nagal has been the talk of the town in the Indian tennis circuit in the last one fortnight for contrasting reasons. He was denied an Asia Pacific region wildcard nomination for the calendar’s first Grand Slam event — Australian Open 2024 — after making himself unavailable to play the Davis Cup tie in Pakistan, citing his irrelevance with grass court events.
But the adversity, inadvertently, has thrust the Haryana-born tennis player into breaking new grounds. Though he was awarded a nomination in the 2021 Australian Open, a first-round exit at the hands of Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis ended his campaign.
Three years later, a challenging path followed, where he won three qualifying rounds without dropping a single set before stunning World No.27 Alexander Bublik. Sumit defeated the 31st-seeded Kazakh player in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(5) to become the first Indian to register a win against a seeded player in a Grand Slam event after Ramesh Krishnan in 1989.
The third set was a daunting task for the top-ranked Indian player with Bublik sitting in the driver’s seat with a 6-5 lead. With exemplary forehands and outrageous returns against Bublik’s canny drop shots, Sumit Nagal turned around the tables to win the third set in a tiebreaker.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda on his pulsating battle against the Kazakh player in the third set, Sumit Nagal said:
“I will be very honest with you, I was little nervous. Because this was the first time in the match he was close to winning a set. All those visualising trainings and breathing (sessions)."
"When I set on the bench at 6-5 (trailing), I told myself just have to focus point by point and see where it goes. That made me feel better and a bit more relaxed. I actually came off a very good game at 6-5 if you look at it."
Even after winning the first set in the second round, the Indian ace went down to Chinese prodigy Juncheng Shang 6-2, 3-6, 5-7, 4-6. The 18-year-old Shang was terrific with his volleys and dexterously exposed the depth of Nagal’s court to hit the winners.
While assessing his overall Australian Open campaign, Nagal was effusive in his praise for the Chinese World No.140. He added:
“Going there (in Australia), if anyone had said that you will be playing the second round of a main draw, I wouldn’t have said no. I would say yeah sure because it’s been a while since I was there at that stage."
"Of course, a bit sad about the second-round loss. It was a very good opportunity, a set up, but again kudos to him for coming out with such a big game and playing really top level of tennis."
Sumit Nagal has advocated for change in the Indian tennis system which encourages more players to play singles in tennis in order to increase Indian participation in Grand Slam events. Playing more tennis tournaments back at home was one of his suggestions after his win in the first round.
Ironically, the Maharashtra Open, India’s lone ATP 250 event played in Pune annually, won’t take place this year after the five-year contract between the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis (MSLTA) with IMG and RISE worldwide ended last year and there was no renewal on the cards.
According to the Hindustan Times, the financial costs to host the tournament in India became challenging for the organizers because of the lack of a strong contender from India.
Sumit Nagal is still hopeful about the ATP tournament returning to the country in the course of two years. He said:
“Of course, it’s a little sad we don’t have the (ATP 250) event anymore. I am very sure the people tried to have it, but there is something you can’t control. I really hope for another year or two where they can take it back."
Nagal further suggested certain months in a calendar year where India can add a few more challenger events apart from the current three ATP Challenger 100s held in Pune, Chennai, and Bengaluru, which are usually held in February and March.
"It would be really nice to have some tournaments towards the end of the year. Especially when you travel so many months outside India, you want to be in home around October-November because you start missing and the holidays start coming at the end of the season. It will be really nice to play in India instead of South America or Europe and try to blend those challenges," the 26-year-old said.
“Somewhere after the US Open will also help because you are playing the hard courts. After August, in September you have an option to play either in Europe or go to the Asian swing, which is Beijing and Shangai.
"Summer is tough because the weather is very hot, so I don’t think it allows us to host challengers when it’s 45 degrees outside. February is another good month. So these are the three months that India should aim for. March also actually,” he added.
How Sumit Nagal started playing Tennis
Sumit Nagal, just like any other Indian, was enticed with cricket in a country where the game is almost considered a religion. But his father Suresh Nagal’s intervention changed his fate with regard to his sporting career. The senior Nagal enrolled his son at the DDA tennis academy at the age of seven.
At the age of nine, Sumit defeated a player who was two years older to him in the U-12 championship in Hyderabad, as per The Indian Express. He received important guidance and mentorship from 12-time Grand Slam champion Mahesh Bhupathi, who envisioned Sumit Nagal’s tennis journey. Nagal was also inspired by former World No.3 David Ferrer of Spain because of his attitude on the court.
"My journey started in 2006. As a kid I just wanted to play a sport and I ended up playing tennis, which I had no part of it. I am happy that the country is doing well in these two sports (cricket and hockey)," said Sumit.
Sumit trained under Bhupathi until 2011 before he moved to Canada. Three years later, the Jhajjar-born player shifted his base to Germany to train under Argentine coach Mariano Delfino. He won the Wimbledon Boys Doubles in 2015 along with Ly Hoang Nam of Vietnam.
At the age of 20, Nagal won the Bengaluru Open in 2017 after receiving the wildcard nomination. He defeated compatriot Yuki Bhambri in the semis and Great Britain’s Jay Clarke in the final to win his first Challenger event.
In 2019, Nagal played the biggest match of his tennis career when he became the first Indian player to register a set win against 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer. He won the first set 6-4 against the Swiss maestro in the first round of the US Open 2019, though the Indian eventually lost the remaining three games 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.
“I would like to see many sports coming up, we are a huge country. We have a lot of people playing the sport. I just really wish that we push each other and look to score a lot of medals in the upcoming Paris (Olympics) and many more tournaments,” Nagal signed off.
Sumit Nagal will be seen in action in all three ATP Challenger 100 tournaments in February — Chennai Open, Bengaluru Open, and Pune Open.
