Sumit Nagal
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
A profile
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
The person
Prajwal Hegde, August 28, 2019: The Times of India
Roger Federer won the US Open first-round clash on the packed-to-capacity Arthur Ashe stadium court. But Sumit Nagal, 22-years of age, owned that raucous New York night. His hope and hustle won him a set, but he lost the match to that Greatest Of All Time, from whose racket strings music flows. 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 was the scoreline, but the story lay in the spirit of the boy who would become a man in the near three hours in the middle.
Nagal’s stride is the swagger of an outsider who has strayed on rough roads, before steering to the middle. The 5 ft 10’ pro is a regular on the Challenger Tour, where he’s earning his points and pennies. The India No.3 hadn’t won so much as a set in a Tour-level feature until 24 hours ago. “It was the first time I was walking out on such a big stadium. It felt amazing,” Nagal said. “You are aware you’re playing Roger Federer once you step on the court. You are aware.”
Nagal got on the scoreboard in the third game of the match with a break of serve, courtesy a Federer double fault. ‘It’s gonna be a long night’ played on the sound system. The Indian, scrambling and swinging, broke again in the ninth game. With the full house delighting in the ebb and flow of the encounter, Nagal then closed out the set on a Federer error in the tenth game.
That’s when the world No.190 started flirting with his boyhood dream. “I started thinking too much, focusing on winning, thinking I’m one set up,” the New Delhibased pro rued. “You get a little nervous and the energy goes down. Then boom everything goes down, it changes in a second.”
Federer, who has played so many young hopefuls in his enduring reign, was quick to spot the anxiety across the net. He piled on the pressure and expertly upped pace of play in the second and third sets, posing teasers in his inimitable style. “He was getting a bit down on himself after set two and three,” Federer observed. “That’s why it was key to stay ahead in the fourth set, and I did. It was a pity to get broken at 2-1, give him sort of a life back. He did a good job to stay with me. I had to close it out.”
For his part, the Indian knew exactly where he had faltered. “You’re playing a player who reads the game better than anyone, who changes his strategy every three points. He’s always doing different things, that’s what makes him so good,” Nagal said of the 20-time major winner. “He loves putting pressure on you, he mixes it so well, you have no idea what is coming at you.”
The US Open is where Nagal, who thrives on clay courts, played his first major junior event. Interestingly it’s also where he has debuted in a Grand Slam main draw. “I love this city,” he said, before applauding the full house. “Why wouldn’t the fans cheer for him? He has 20 Slams, he has earned it. I thought the crowd was fair today.”
The 22-year-old, who was cheered by a contingent of Indian pros, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan, said, “I have a big country behind me, I take energy from them. Whatever I’m doing I’m doing for a billion people. This always motivates me, doesn’t matter what tournament I’m playing, what court I am playing on.”
The 38-year-old Swiss, who congratulated Nagal at the net, also wished him well for the rest of the season. Later, at the post-match conference, Federer said he was surprised with how Nagal handled the moment. “It’s never easy to come out and play your best. Even though it’s what you live for, you dream about,” Federer noted. “His game is based on being really consistent, moving well, moving the ball around well. Sort of very much a clay-courter. He knows what he can bring. That’s why I think he’s going to have a very solid career. It’s not the game that comes out with the biggest surprises. It’s really consistent.”
Asked if Monday night would be a good story to tell young sporting aspirants back home in India, Nagal paused before committing to a laugh. “Would’ve been a better story to tell if I had won it,” he said. “Or else the kids will be asking me, what happened after the first set?” His arms locked across his chest, the tattooed left over the right, Nagal then played one quietly into the night. “Maybe I will have a better story to tell in the next few years,” he said.
In another first round match, world No.1 Novak Djokovic put out Spaniard Roberto Carbelles Baena 6-4, 6-1, 6-4.
As in 2024, Jan
Born: 16-08-1997 (age 26), Jhajjar
Residence: New Delhi Height: 5’10”
Turned pro: 2015
Playing style: Right-handed, two-handed backhand
Coach: Sascha Nensel
Highest ranking: 122 (24-08-2020)
Current ranking: 137 (8-1-2024)
Career prize money: $733,703 (Singles and doubles combined) Best record in
Grand Slams
Australian Open: 2nd round (2024, continuing)
French Open: Qualifier 2nd round (2021)
Wimbledon: Qualifier 1st round (2018)
US Open: Second round (2020)
Career
2015: Wimbledon boys' double title
Jul 12, 2015
Sumit Nagal wins Wimbledon boys' doubles title
LONDON: Youngster Sumit Nagal entered the history books as only sixth Indian to win a Grand Slam junior title after winning the boys doubles trophy at the Wimbledon championships with partner Nam Hoang Ly. 17-year-old Nagal and his eighth seed Vietnamese partner overcame the fourth seeds Reilly Opelka and Akira Santillan 7-6(4), 6-4 in the title clash that lasted 63 minutes.
Yuki Bhambri was the last Indian to taste success at the top level in junior tennis when he won the Australian Open boys singles title in 2009.
Ramanathan Krishnan (Wimbledon, 1954), Ramesh Krishnan (French Open and Wimbledon, 1979) and Leander Paes (Wimbledon 1990, U.S. Open 1991) are the other junior Grand Slam singles champions from India. Sania Mirza had won the Wimbledon girls doubles title in 2003 with Russian partner Alisa Kleybanova.
There was little to separate the two pairs as the winners won 65 points, only three more than their rivals. Nagal and his partner broke their opponents in the 10th game of the second set and that proved decisive in the outcome of the match.
2019: Takes Opening Set Off Federer
• Born: August 16, 1997 (age 22 years), in Jhajjar, Haryana
• Favourite surface: Clay, hard court
• Current coaches: Sasha Nensel & Milos Galecic in Paine, Germany.
• Favourite Grand Slam: US Open. Fittingly, he made a dream Grand Slam debut – in the US Open, against the great Roger Federer
• Record in 2019: Reached semis of Milan Challenger, Bratislava Challenger, Lyon Challenger, Samarkand Challenger and the Savannah Challenger.
• Father Suresh Nagal is a teacher, mother Krishna Devi Nagal is a homemaker.
• Won the 2015 Wimbledon boys’ doubles title with Vietnamese partner Lý Hoàng Nam.
• Turned professional in 2015, is currently ranked 190 in the world.
• Trained in a junior programme started by Mahesh Bhupathi in 2008. He then moved to Canada, and is now training in Germany.
• He is being supported by the Virat Kohli Foundation’s Athlete Development Programme.
Tampere Open
2023
A
July 24, 2023: The Times of India
Nagal wins Tampere Open title:
Sumit Nagal beat Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic in straight sets 6-4 7-5 to clinch the Tampere Open title in Finland. It happens to be Nagal’s fourth ATP Challenger title, with this being his second crown this year.
YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS
2019
Oct: 135th in world
Sumit attains ranking high
Sumit Nagal achieved his career-best ranking after moving up to the 135th position in the latest ATP chart. The 22-year-old saw himself climbing 26 places in the latest ATP rankings list. Nagal recently made headlines after making his Slam debut against Roger Federer in the US Open. PTI
Oct 7: 129th in world
Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal on Monday achieved a career-best ranking of 129 after jumping six places in the latest men’s singles rankings.
2021
Argentina Open: reaches QFs
Nagal’s dream run in Argentina Open ends in quarters loss: Sumit Nagal came agonisingly close to beating another Top-50 ranked player on the ATP circuit before falling short against fifth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the quarterfinals of the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires on Friday. Nagal, who had registered the biggest career win of his career when he had defeated world number 22 Cristian Garin a day earlier, took his last-eight match against Ramos-Vinolas to the decider before losing 6-4, 2-6, 5-7. AGENCIES
June
India will have a singles entry in men’s tennis in Tokyo, after all.
Sumit Nagal, by virtue of his world ranking of 144 as on June 14, the date on which rankings are taken into consideration, made the cut following a spate of withdrawals.
Nagal also stands a chance to feature in doubles, provided his combined ranking with Rohan Bopanna, the highest-ranked Indian in doubles, makes the cut.
The last time India had an entry in singles at the Games was in London 2012 when Somdev Devvarman and Vishnu Vardhan competed. “I knew it (cut off) was going to drop.
