I’d love more chances to level up: A Wknd interview with tennis’s Sumit Nagal

He spoke candidly, months ago, about how little he earns in pro tennis. He’s now had his first big post-injury win. It’ll help, but it isn’t the answer, he says

It’s been an unusually busy two weeks for Sumit Nagal. He has posed intensely in photo shoots, smiled broadly for Reels, and played cricket at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for a special Australian Open video.

(Reuters)

His phone hasn’t stopped beeping. The questions are still flowing in: How did he do it; how does it feel; what’s next?

“It’s a nice feeling, man,” says Nagal, 26. India’s top-ranked singles tennis pro recently played and won the three qualifying-round matches of the 2024 Australian Open. Then, the man ranked 137 in the world beat World No. 27 Alexander Bublik in straight sets, to become the first Indian male to beat a seeded player in a Slam since 1989.

It can be lonely representing the country at the Slams, where very few Indians play. “And then you do something well and you see a reaction from people, and you know they are behind you,” he says, his voice a mix of amazement and joy. Amazement because this isn’t a common reaction to a first-round win. But we’ll get to the tangles of India and tennis in a bit.

For Nagal, this isn’t his first brush with fame, though it is a far happier occasion that drops him into the limelight this time around.

He last made national headlines four months ago, when he spoke of his struggle in a PTI interview, and told the interviewer he had ₹80,000 in his tour bank account and didn’t know how long he could go on.

Born in Jhajjar, Haryana, to a schoolteacher and a homemaker, Nagal grew up in New Delhi, playing a range of sports. “I just enjoyed being out there,” he says, laughing. His father, Suresh Nagal, noticed how much joy sports brought the boy, and saw how athletic he was, and enrolled him in a local tennis club.

At age 11, Nagal was picked for a tennis programme run by Indian doubles legend Mahesh Bhupathi. The programme shut two years later, for lack of funding, and the boy returned home, assuming he was done with the game.

Bhupathi had other plans. He called him a few months later. “I’ll take care of you,” he said.

He has been “a mentor on court and father figure off it in the years since”, Nagal says. “I had no money to continue in the sport. No money for all the international trips required. If it wasn’t for him, I would have quit years ago.”

Even with that support, it has been hard.

Unlike amateurs who represent the country on official teams and contingents, tennis pros must pay for all travel, training and play from their earnings. Endorsement deals and sponsorships help, but the boom here only comes once one has broken into the top 100.

Nagal has shown immense talent. He was the Wimbledon junior doubles champion in 2015; won his first Challenger title in Bengaluru in 2017; and made his Slam debut at the 2019 US Open, where he won a set against Roger Federer.

But he has not yet broken into the top 100.

The lack of backing for talent such as his explains, at least partly, why Nagal was the first Indian male to win a singles Slam main draw match in seven years, at the 2020 US Open; why no Indian singles player had featured in a Slam main draw since Nagal at the 2021 Australian Open; why no Indian has ever won a singles Slam; and why Indians, men and women alike, pick doubles over singles.

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Nagal doesn’t have a big serve. He may not blow anyone away with his game, but he is consistent and perseveres. He doesn’t lose heart; he won’t walk away from a fight.

As Federer put it after playing Nagal: “His game is based on being really consistent, moving well, moving the ball around well.”

His consistency saw him rise up the ranks to a career high of World No. 122. Then hip surgery in 2021 tipped all of it into freefall. He couldn’t play for six months. His rankings plummeted into the 500s by January 2023.

At the time of the interview with PTI, he had climbed back up to No. 189.

He is proud of his comeback. “Start-stop is never fun for any tennis player. But I guess I had no choice other than to fight through this,” he has said.

“My goals, my vision, my dreams — they kept me alive and motivated in this phase. I am thankful to my family, coaching team, friends and sponsors for making sure I stay on track and push on.”

They pushed him hard through rehab, and through tough moments in practice. They formed a cocoon around him that allowed him to emerge a better self.

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The Australian Open outcome will earn Nagal 180,000 Australian dollars (about ₹99 lakh), a sweet reward.

“Everyone knows how hard it is to achieve things in singles, especially looking at the opportunities we have in India,” he says.

There aren’t enough tournaments, coaches, or world-class facilities. Players hoping to win at the elite level are typically better off leaving home and training abroad, and that drives expenses up. Nagal, for instance, trains at the Nensel Academy in Germany.

“Better facilities across India, a higher number of knowledgeable tennis and fitness coaches would help. Would play a huge role,” he says.

A big advantage that players from the US, Europe and China have is that their countries host a lot more tournaments, which gives players the opportunity to work their way up the rankings. It also helps them level up their play.

Until India can compete in this respect, the divide between players like Nagal and the elite in the world of tennis will likely remain.

“You can’t really do anything about it but keep moving,” he says. “It’s definitely a disadvantage, but you can’t play victim all the time.”