Sumit Nagal thread

[jayakris]

I think Sumit wasn't lying about an injury, while withdrawing from the Davis Cup. He said he has been asked not to play on hard courts because of some lower body issue. It is pretty clear to me that he is unable to play at his best level. Hitting the net repeatedly, as we have seen in recent matches are probably an indication of it too.

[Rajiv]

If the injury is so bad , than he shouldn't be on the court in the first place, if that is the case than he is simply agreavating it and continue to play not only now but also in Poland during Davis Cup week is uncalled for, as Jay observered that he is not at his best level physically.

[prasen9]

He looked quite listless in his play, and not the Sumit we know ,who played with a missionary zeal.
Now comes the worrying part,93 points dropping on 13th Sept, and another 80 points on 27th Sept.

Doesn't matter. Points drop off and points are gained. Ranking goes up and down. He will get back when he is fully fit.

[sameerph]

Sumit playing in another clay challenger this week.

At Banja Luka Challenger 80, Bosnia-Herzegovina (Clay)

[R1] (5) Sumit Nagal (IND,164) vs. Nicolas Alvarez (ECU,384)

[sameerph]

Sumit starts with an easy win.

At Banja Luka Challenger 80, Bosnia-Herzegovina (Clay)

[R1] (5) Sumit Nagal (IND,164) d. Nicolas Alvarez (ECU,384) 61 62

After long time an easy one sided win for Sumit.

Next,

[R2] (5) Sumit Nagal (IND,164) vs. Carlos Gomez-Herrera (ESP, 383)

Sumit has a 2-0 head to head against Carlos but last win in Argentina this year was a very close one with Sumit winning in a third set tie break.

[arjun2761]

Best win by Sumit in terms of dominance in quite a while. Hopefully, he can sustain his form in the second round....

[vparam]

Sumit loses 5-7, 3-6. Match filled with unforced errors from Sumit. He was up 4-2 in the first set and fell apart after that. Had numerous break chances in the second set but was only able to convert 1 break point.

[arjun2761]

So his poor form continues. Normally, he would be winning these matches on clay when he is in form. If there isn't a niggle, he'll just have to play through the slump....

[vparam]

Sumit is playing the Szczecin challenger. He plays the 8th seed Stefano Travaglia in the first round. Will be pleasantly surprised if Sumit pulls off the upset.

[sameerph]

Close loss for Sumit.

At Szczecin Challenger, Poland (Clay)

[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,186) l. (8) Stephano Travalgia (ITA,99) 63 16 46

Travalgia had thrashed Sumit in May in an ATP tour qualies. So, this was a pretty good fight by Sumit. Just some indication from last week that Sumit is getting back into some kind of form now. Hope that proves to be right.

[Sanjay]

Again disappointing.

Maybe our top 3 should switch to doubles. Singles isn't working. Like LP/MB they may be able to shine there.

[sameerph]

Another 3 set loss for Sumit.

At Bucharest Challenger, Romania (Clay)

[R1] (5) Sumit Nagal (IND,185) l. Lorenzo Giustino (ITA,229) 63 57 57

Sumit was up 4-0 in the third set but after that hip injury started acting up and he could barely move in the end.

[Sanjay]

One more tournament, one more early loss.

I think our guys should play singles until about 25 and see if they are going places. If not excel in doubles. LP/MB were good esp the former, but he was not getting into the top 20 so he wisely switched to doubles and became a Doubles Legend. Sania also did the same and got to World No 1.

PG should switch as he is 30+. RR is getting there. Nagal has another year. Better be great in some thing lower than a zero in something higher.

[arjun2761]

I think it is daft to switch to doubles when you can still play singles competitively. The professional tour rewards singles a lot more handsomely, so even a middling singles players earn more than doubles specialist (even if significantly higher ranked in doubles).

Current prize money of our players this year:

Sumit Nagal: $172K
RamK: 163K
Bops: 147K
Divij: 74K

Also, doubles is a different game which requires a different skillset. Not sure Sumit has the skillset to be a successful doubles even if he foolishly chooses to focus on that.

[prasen9]

And, you do not really need to switch. Just play both. Sumit is not in good physical shape. He should fix that first. Then, if you are naturally talented in doubles, your ranks will shoot up and then you have to choose between playing singles and playing doubles say at the ATP level, etc. Just because you switch to doubles does not mean that you are guaranteed to make it as Arjun said. Until that happens, just keep playing both.