Sumit Nagal thread

[jayakris]

Some nice words from Leander on Sumit here - https://www.hindustantimes.com/tennis/e ... YRWkO.html (Hindustan Times interview today)

Qn: Sumit Nagal has had a great season, both in terms of rankings and results. Has his steep rise this year surprised you?

No. I saw Sumit way back when he was training in Toronto and I was practicing with him. One of Sumit’s best shots is one of my weaker shots–the backhand. And I kept on practicing with him, checking his backhand and learning from him: how he steps forward, how he keeps moving ahead, how he keeps himself down. I could see how much talent the young boy had. After you win a junior doubles title (Nagal won 2015 Wimbledon boys’ doubles title), you’ve got to perform. And Sumit has kept on persevering. It’s not easy, especially with the amount of expense and hardships on the Tour.

I have massive respect for people who work hard, because I’ve been through it myself, sleeping in locker rooms and things like that. Another player who I have immense respect for is Ankita (Raina), who has kept going. For me, she is one of the fittest athletes that we have in India across all sports. Now, we need our boys and girls to go out there and win.

Whoa, those are some serious compliments from Leander, who does not usually talk about his own tennis weaknesses. To see him talk about practicing with a young Sumit in Toronto (probably a few years ago) and "learning from him"!! .... Also, nice to see him mention Ankita and all her hard work.

[knarayen]

Good encouraging words from Leander. He is very modest regarding his backhand. He plays the deuce court in doubles and his single-handed inside-out backhand return is easily one of the best I’ve seen. It is very noticeable - the results speak for themselves.

Prof

[RohitG]

Sumit plays in the Lima challenger starting on 21st. Got a tough draw if you ask me. If he wins his R32 match, he's most likely to run into Varillas, the local player who has won 2 consecutive challengers in October (Campinas and Santo Domingo) If he wins that, he might face the top seed Cecchinato from Italy. All this at a challenger 80!

[jayakris]

Sumit with a terrible (I mean, absolutely horrible) day, not hitting well, nor accurately; not serving well nor returning well. Not moving well, to add. He was broken twice in the first set and lost it in 22 minutes. Just 13 points won, to 27 points by the 21-year-old, Lutz. Nothing really changed in the second set either, as the mishits continued. Poor shot selection, and hitting it too long or too long wide also. Has missed all 6 of his second serves so far (but it improved after that, as he won 7 of the next 9 for the match). Broken with his third DF of the match at 30-40 in game 3 of the 2nd set... He played a little better in games 5 and 7 on his serve. Lutz played solidly (at times spectacularly) and does move around quite nicely, though Sumit wasn't trying to move him around much, as his tennis seemed to totally lack any plan today. At 3-4, off Lutz' serve, Sumit started playing well. He was yelling at himself, "come on, make it man", on putting an FH on the next for 15-15. The game went to multiple deuces and SN had his first BP of the match too, but Lutz played a couple of fabulous forehand shots and a drop shot, with Sumit hitting two BH DTL shots as well. Lutz held finally. At 3-5, a missed FH by Sumit and a tremendous return winner caused deuce, and two fantastic FH winners from Lutz made it a second and a third deuce but Sumit's strong inside-out forehand started falling in for a change, and he held. Sumit played much better in the final few games but Lutz was on song, too. In the final game, Lutz served strongly, as three returns from Sumit went out. And the match was over.

But that game showed the primary problem Sumit had today - he was completely unable to return Lutz' serve today. I don't think Lutz is Philippoussis or anything on serve. He serves well. But Sumit was doing some sort of block or lob returns all day long and it never worked. Why? I don't know... Anyway, a bad day where he never really got uncorked, against a pretty talented youngster from Brazil.

At the $54,160+H Lima challenger, Peru (clay)

[R1] (4) Sumit Nagal (IND,129) BYE
[R2] (4) Sumit Nagal (IND,129) l. Orlando Lutz (BRA,306), 16 46

[arjun2761]

Bad loss for Sumit as he had beaten Luz a couple of weeks ago in straight sets. He isn't competing as well as he normally does. He did seem hampered by a niggle in his last tournament so it's possible he isn't feeling fully fit yet. With his back court grinding style, he isn't going to win too many matches when he isn't fully fit as he does not have weapons with which he can shorten the rallies or get easy points on his serve.

[RohitG]

Terrible loss, the top-100 finish now looks next to impossible. Still, he can maximise the purchase out of last 2 weeks (3 if enters Portugal/Italy for week of 18th) and get himself as close as possible

[jaydeep]

Yes, so he can be at least a top-16 seed in the AO 2020 qualifying.

[arjun2761]

Terrible loss, the top-100 finish now looks next to impossible. Still, he can maximise the purchase out of last 2 weeks (3 if enters Portugal/Italy for week of 18th) and get himself as close as possible

His first priority is making sure he is fit. Hopefully, he will work with his trainer to figure out an optimal schedule. It's pointless to chase points without taking care his fitness as it will likely mean first round exits and unnecessary travel...

[jaydeep]

Hoping for a better week for Sumit in South America.

At $54K+H Guayaquil Challenger 2019, Ecuador (Red clay)

[R1] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,129) bye

[jayakris]

Well, Sumit is scratched off the draw at the Peru challenger. So, I guess that is that....

A qualifier, #528 Mauricio Echazu of Peru has got Sumit's spot, and that lucky dude gets a bye and then winner of an R1 matchup between two wildcards. Talk about a lucky break to the third round for this Echazu dude.

[vparam]

Well, Sumit is scratched off the draw at the Peru challenger. So, I guess that is that....

A qualifier, #528 Mauricio Echazu of Peru has got Sumit's spot, and that lucky dude gets a bye and then winner of an R1 matchup between two wildcards. Talk about a lucky break to the third round for this Echazu dude.

Apparently the draw sheet says Visa issues was the reason Sumit had to withdraw. I wonder if he didn't get his paperwork in time to get the Visa. Anyway, this last month has been a disaster for Sumit after a great run in September.

[Rajiv]

Yes it has been a disastrous month for Sumit, and not to mention about Prajnesh's injury flare up.

Expected the Indian 1 & 2 to finish the year in a blaze of glory and it was very much possible and on the cards,  but sadly that was not to be.

[RohitG]

He has entered only Pune after this. Maia challenger (the last one this year) entry list is out and Sumit isn't entered there. It's an indoor clay event and maybe he could have given it a shot but he hasn't. Mukund is there in it though. So now both our top-2 will be outside top-100, but inside top-130. That's a messy situation. Disappointing month for Indian tennis. Only thing left to be seen is whether he enters the AO wildcard playoff. Also, whether he plays in Pune and overtakes Praj as the new #1

[sameerph]

Unfortunate that Sumit had to withdraw from this challenger. Anyway, let us hope that he plays in Pune and takes full advanatage of somewhat weaker field.

If Prajnesh does not play in Pune, he will drop to around 126 in the year end rankings. Sumit also has points to defend from last year's Bangalore Challenger. So, by my calculations, Sumit will have to reach the final in Pune to overtake Prajnesh and become India #1 at the end of the year.

[sameerph]

This is a nice article on Sumit -

Indian tennis: Staying injury-free in career-changing 2019 season was highlight for Sumit Nagal

He plans to start his 2020 season with the Challenger in Canberra before the Australian Open qualifiers.

So, like Prajnesh , Sumit too is planning to start the new season with Canberra Challenger. Change in dates of Pune Challenger may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Indian players. They will get 1 extra week in Australia before Australian open.