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.
Career
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.
YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS
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. AGENCIE
