Sumit Nagal thread

[suresh]

Sumit wins 6-4 7-5 (got broken when he was serving for the set at 5-4 but broke back immediately). Second title of the day after the Satchi win in badminton.

[sameerph]

Yes, Sumit went on a 9 game winning streak to go up 4-0 in the second set but Svercina came back strongly to get both breaks back and level it 5-5 but thankfully stayed tough to break again for 6-5 and then win a close service game to win on his 4th match point.

[jayakris]

The best tennis I have seen Sumit play in quite a while. Tremendous power in some of those winners today. Cvrcina was playing very well in so many points but Sumit kept bringing the goods, as he went on that 9 game win streak from 1-4 to 64 40. Then it became super-tight, as Sumit made a few (not many) mistakes and Cvrcina was up to the task. It was superb effort from Sumit, to shake off losing close points so many times including three match points (one on Cvrcina's serve at 64 53 and three in two more in the final game), and to come through in the end. Tremendous match.

At the Challenger 75 in Tampere, Finland (clay):

[F] (7) Sumit Nagal (IND,231) d. (5) Dalibor Svrcina (CZE,193), 64 75

He moves up to #177 in live rankings. "Sumit or Bust"? Right now, Mr. Bust is nowhere to be seen.

[arjun2761]

Fantastic performance by Sumit! This is now becoming his best year since 2019 where he used his clay court run to have a good performance at the US Open! Hope we see an encore this year!

[PKBasu]

Superb win, especially in the final against a young player who is in prime form. Sumit himself is clearly in great form. He needs to take at least a week's break, look after the body, and make the transition to hard courts soon.

[Dinesh]

^^^ He has entered 3 challengers for the next 3 weeks that are on clay.

[Sanjay]

Sumit is accelerating, exciting days ahead (hopefully). Can't wait for him to crack the top 100.
However, worry is his strength seems to be clay and he hasn't shown the same strength on other surfaces.

Make hay!

[VReddy]

Sumit is accelerating, exciting days ahead (hopefully). Can't wait for him to crack the top 100.
However, worry is his strength seems to be clay and he hasn't shown the same strength on other surfaces.

Make hay!

Clay season is year long mostly.. barring 2-3 months.

[suresh]

Clay season is year long mostly.. barring 2-3 months.

[arjun2761]

Sumit is accelerating, exciting days ahead (hopefully). Can't wait for him to crack the top 100.
However, worry is his strength seems to be clay and he hasn't shown the same strength on other surfaces.

Make hay!

He is best on clay but I would characterize his game as a "pickleball" tennis player. Pickleball is a tennis like sport with an underhand serve.

His ground strokes should work on hard courts as well but he is challenged by the serves of his opponents on the faster surfaces and hence he sticks to clay. However, there are slower hard court surfaces where he could be competitive. In fact, his biggest challenger title till date is on a slower hard court in Bangalore.

In fact, other serve challenged Indians, like Yuki and Somdev, have done well in Indian Wells and Miami which are among the slower hard courts.

[Omkara]

Sumit is accelerating, exciting days ahead (hopefully). Can't wait for him to crack the top 100.
However, worry is his strength seems to be clay and he hasn't shown the same strength on other surfaces.

Make hay!

There are many who just stick to clay. Have a great career. Lots of prize money.

[vatsalnew]

In fact, his biggest challenger title till date is on a slower hard court in Bangalore.

True, the Bangalore hard court surface itself might be slow, but the city is situated at an extremely high altitude (>900m). As a result, the ball flies there, favoring players with a big serve and big game (as I've heard from players who've played in that tournament)

For perspective's sake - Madrid is at ~700m altitude, yet the clay masters there is considered to be almost like a non-clay event as it favors the big servers a lot.

[Omkara]

Was Sumits serve this weak since the start? I doubt.... It's a change in his game where is internationally let go of his serve to gain on his baseline game. Enough and more clay court specialists who have done that. Very few elite like Nadal who had it all.

[vatsalnew]

Was Sumits serve this weak since the start? I doubt.... It's a change in his game where is internationally let go of his serve to gain on his baseline game. Enough and more clay court specialists who have done that. Very few elite like Nadal who had it all.

Sumit's mentioned that he can serve 200, but is afraid to do so because of a shoulder surgery he had when he was a teenager. His serve speed is low because he needs to manage his shoulder and be cautious with it

[Omkara]

It was my hunch. But thanks for this great insight Vatsal. Players need to take care of so many things. That fact the Sumit continues to get success despite remodeling his game, shows deep understanding of the game. Hope he does way better than what he has achieved till now.