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Sumit Nagal focused on evolving his game
Sumit Nagal reflects on his recent ATP Challenger loss, grappling with injuries and seeking motivation to surpass his career-high ranking.
Mumbai: In the locker room of the Balewadi Tennis Stadium in Pune, Sumit Nagal sat listening to “sad music” to match the sombre mood. He recalled sitting there for quite a while, as he dissected his second round loss from earlier that day at the ATP Challenger - a 2:37 hour marathon that he lost 6-7(4), 6-0, 3-6 to Britain’s Felix Gill.
Defeats can be hard to deal with, and Nagal is no stranger to it. But something hit differently in Pune.
“It made me sit with my own thoughts where I was asking myself what I want to do in life,” he said to HT. “Winning and losing is a part of sports, part of life. But these last two-three weeks, the way I have performed, the way I wanted to play, it just was not where I would have liked.”
Throughout his career, the 28-year-old dogged baseliner has relished slugfests. He puts his heart into every match regardless of the opposition - and he has faced the likes of Roger Federer, Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev.
What hasn’t served his determination is his injury prone body. The latest ailment - a tear in his right hip flexor - came during his second round match at a Challenger in Thailand in January.
“I honestly don’t have an answer about why these things keep happening,” he said. “They’re very random. Nothing is connected, and it’s always something new.”
The man from Jhajjar, Haryana had turned professional in 2015, but has rarely played full, injury-free seasons. The last time he did however, he broke into the top 100 and reached a career high 68 in July 2024.
It was a spell in which he was consistently rubbing shoulders against the better players in the sport, and competing in the best events - including all the four Grand Slams. It gave him a close glimpse at the differences between the top 100 and the rest of the field.
“Confidence plays a huge role,” Nagal explained. “Almost every player, even as far as in the top 500, has a good serve, big groundstrokes. But the margins are so small, you play freely when you have confidence. In my mind, I believe that I play the best tennis when I don’t have to think, when it’s automatic. That comes when you’re high on confidence.”
That confidence also comes when the body manages to hold up against the physicality of tennis.
In the past few weeks, Nagal has been playing with a strapped hip. He asserted that there are some points where he is tentative about playing because he’s unsure if his body will be able to bear the brunt. Yet, despite that hesitation, he is the India No.1.
And the world No.282 is still looking for ways to evolve his game - including mixing his play by picking moments to come up to the net.
His biggest change he made this year though comes off-court.
“I am putting an extra hour on warm-ups and cool-downs,” he said. “Even when the injuries happen, the work continues. The next day I was back in the gym.”
As the tennis world is scheduled to enter the clay swing next month, Nagal is heading back to his base at the Nensel Academy in Germany for a few weeks of training.
But he asserted that he leaves behind the frustration of the past few weeks.
“That evening in Pune, I had a bit of an outburst - but it was about how things were going with me. And then I felt lighter. It brings me nothing to sulk on it,” he said. “There have been months where I have gone into a dark place, and I don’t want that.”
The biggest positive for him, he added, is that he finds motivation in his goals. The main one is to beat the career-hight ATP ranking achieved by his mentor Somdev Devvarman, the former world No.62.
“I find joy in that goal,” he said. “And when I get to top 61, that is going to be a great moment for me.”
