Sumit Nagal thread

[Prakharulz]

Sumit bagels Dima in the first set
Leads 60 10

[Prakharulz]

Now leads 6-0 3-0*

[jaydeep]

Sumit is back to bagel mood ...

At $15K Italy F15 Futures 2017, Reggio Emilia

[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,405) vs Dragos Dima (ROU,316) 60 3-0

[sameerph]

And it ends in another doubles bagel.

At $15K Italy F15 Futures 2017, Reggio Emilia

[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,405) d. Dragos Dima (ROU,316) 60 60

These are incredible scoreline by Sumit against decently ranked players. Never seen any Indian player win with these kind of score lines against top 300-350 level players.

[Abish arul]

All I can say is he is a true clay courter right up there with Europeans and south Americans a rarity in Indian tennis

[jaydeep]

Too good and consistent performance.

[arjun2761]

Awesome win by Sumit! Amazing that he lost to the same guy in 3 sets just a month or so ago.

[jaydeep]

Next, he is facing top-300 Austrian Michael Linzer ... With his current form, other players must be praying to avoid him altogether ...

At $15K Italy F15 Futures 2017, Reggio Emilia

[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,405) vs (7) Michael Linzer (AUT,279)

[PKBasu]

It is amazing how much stronger the field is in Italy for a $15K Futures (the lowest level): Sumit was the lowest-ranked player in the direct acceptance list, whereas he would have been seeded 4th in Singapore (where the lowest acceptance is #839). Clever of RamK to travel to Singapore...

[sameerph]

Just to clarify the futures in Italy this week also provides hospitality and so has points equivalent of a $25K futures. Similarly, last week's futures in Romania was $25K+H which we all missed.

[jaydeep]

This is turning into the real test for Sumit as he has lost the fist set against Linzer.

At $15K+H Italy F15 Futures 2017, Reggio Emilia

[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,405) vs (7) Michael Linzer (AUT,279) 36

[arjun2761]

At $15K+H Italy F15 Futures 2017, Reggio Emilia

[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,405) vs (7) Michael Linzer (AUT,279) 36 36

Nagal failed the test but his game definitely seems to be getting back to his pre-injury form.

[arjun2761]

It is amazing how much stronger the field is in Italy for a $15K Futures (the lowest level): Sumit was the lowest-ranked player in the direct acceptance list, whereas he would have been seeded 4th in Singapore (where the lowest acceptance is #839). Clever of RamK to travel to Singapore...

Folks at this level generally don't have the money to travel across the world, so the disparity in the fields is often based the strength of the local players (i.e, players who can more easily travel to a certain destination). Asian futures tend to be consistently easier relative to European or North American futures...

[sameerph]

Also playing in weaker fields only helps in short term. Ultimately one has to beat higher level players at challengers. I think at this age, Sumit and his team is adopting the right approach. Playing on red clay in early formative years seems to be the route taken by most of the successful top pros these days. Sumit is trying this route and I think at his age he is the most successful Indian player on red clay. If he continues improvement in his game ranking will follow.

[PKBasu]

Yes, Sumit's approach is the right one from a professional standpoint. RamK too did this when he was in his late teens, although perhaps overdoing the European clay action to the exclusion of all else.
I wish Yuki had played more on clay and grass to hone his skills -- rather than only on hard courts, which boosted his rankings at the expense of his all-round game.