In July 2024, Sumit Nagal had reached a career-high ranking of 68 in the men’s singles. Although he slipped a bit towards the fag end of the year due to a back issue and loss of form, Nagal still finished the season inside the top 100. Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, Nagal would have charted out a year-end goal of steadily climbing up the rankings ladder.
Unfortunately, fate had something else in store for him. Illness and back problems proved to be major hurdles for a part of the following season. His ranking even plummeted to a lowly 306 by mid-year. However, a couple of fine performances in Tulln and Braga helped him salvage the year to some extent.
In a brief chat with RevSportz ahead of the Bengaluru Open ATP 125 Challenger tournament, the 277th-ranked player had a philosophical take on his career’s downward curve last year. “I had a bad year; back injury. But these things happen, I can do nothing about it. Once I am on the court, I have to give my best. Injuries happen. Obviously, it is unlucky, but it is part of the journey,” Nagal said.
Amid a rather tumultuous year, the shining light was India’s memorable victory over Switzerland in the Davis Cup, where Sumit clinched the tie with a straight-sets win over Henry Bernet. The significance of that victory lay in the fact that India had beaten a European team in the Davis Cup after a gap of 32 years. Next up for India are the Netherlands in the Davis Cup qualifiers. The likes of Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp are ranked inside the top 100 in singles, but Sumit’s gut feeling suggests India can still upset the apple cart.
“The whole team played well. Suresh played a great match. We have a good team now. Now we are playing the Netherlands in Bengaluru on February 7 and 8. The Netherlands have a great team, lots of good players. We are playing well too. It is going to be a close one, but I have a great feeling about it,” Nagal said, sounding confident.
“It was a very good match for me (against Bernet). Obviously, I was up against a very young guy. But in the Davis Cup, the atmosphere is different. Luckily, I got through,” he added.
The conversation then veered towards the conditions at the KSLTA Stadium and how competing in the Bengaluru Open could help the Indian team prepare for their Davis Cup tie against the Netherlands. “Whenever you play at altitude in tennis, you get that extra bounce. As you said, you do get bounce here. The beauty of the sport is that you have to adapt to different conditions,” Nagal observed. Incidentally, Bengaluru is situated at around 920 metres above sea level.
“I understand the conditions and all that. But the environment in the Davis Cup is very different from any Challenger tournament, a 250 event or a Slam. You can’t really compare it. You are playing as a team. But yes, I am looking forward to getting used to the conditions,” he told reporters.
For Sumit, playing the Bengaluru Open brings back evocative memories. “It means a lot. My first Challenger title was here in 2017. In my opinion, it is one of the best Challengers in the world. I enjoy playing here. The crowd turns up, and a lot of people support us.”
Fingers crossed, the Bengaluru Open will help Sumit not only add crucial ranking points but also boost his confidence as he looks to engineer an upward curve in the ATP rankings ladder.
