Sumit Nagal thread

[vparam]

Very true Sameer. I also believe a lot of players are using protected rankings so it will make it even tougher.

[jayakris]

^^^ True, and I think FO always gets the highest cutoff for qualies. Actuually even 20 or 25 years ago, the FO rarely fell below 250 but I remember AO falling below even 400 once and Wimbledon below 325. The USO usually stayed above 275. They have all gone higher these days with the high prize money. Quite a few players below 175 or so these days survive with the $60K they make from three grand slam qualies, and it is a great service the grand slams do to struggling challenger players in the 175-275 range. The rest of the events hardly break even for them.

[Sanjay]

Woo hoo!! Sumit won again. In the F.
One more!!

[sameerph]

So, in the final tomorrow,

At Rome Challenger 75, Italy (Clay)

[F] (Q) Sumit Nagal (IND,347) vs. Jasper De Jong (NED,234)

22 year old De Jong has been in good form of late, reaching couple of QF's and a semi final at challenger level in last 3-4 weeks and now this final.

Lets see how Sumit does against him.

[Rajiv]

Sumit is in the Alt list in qualifying at Prague & Cagliari.

Does he qualify for a SE spot at any of these Challengers ?

[sameerph]

Sumit is in the Alt list in qualifying at Prague & Cagliari.

Does he qualify for a SE spot at any of these Challengers ?

Nope. There are no SE spots for Cagliari as it is much bigger 175 challenger. There are 2 SE spots at Prague but both finalists at this week's Ostrava challenger- Kolar and Valkusz are ranked higher than Sumit . So, they have taken up those spots.

[sameerph]

Sumit had a great start to the final with a break and hold to go 2-0 up. But, was broken back in 4th game for 2-2 and De Jong just held after a couple of deuces for 3-2.

Sumit was in a spot of bother at 0-30 and than 30-40 but held on for 3-3.

Long service game with 7 deuces by De Jong and finally Sumit converts with his 4th breakpoint of the game and goes up 4-3. Couple of double faults and few errors in that game by De Jong.

Sumit holds at 15 for 5-3.

And Sumit break again at 30 to take the first set 6-3.

Sumit is very consistent and also hitting winner. Thought De Jong just dropped his level a bit in last few games and made a few more errors than earlier which helped Sumit.

One more set please.

[jayakris]

Playing error free tennis today

[sameerph]

Sumit gets the first break of the second set to lead 3-1.

But, Sumit gets broken back after he saved 2 break point. Leading 3-2 but on serve. Sumit served his first 2 double faults of the match in that service game which did not help.

Sumit break again after deuce to go up 4-2.

Sumit holds at 30 for 5-2. One game away.

Done. Breaks again to take the set, match and title.

At Rome Challenger 75, Italy (Clay)

[F] (Q) Sumit Nagal (IND,347) d. Jasper De Jong (NED,234) 63 62

[jayakris]

Clinical win today. Except two DFs at 3-1 in the second to drop serve, Sumit made hardly any errors. Just 2 or 3 shots going just beyond the line, and that was that. He kept hitting balls deep. When he does that so adeptly, and hits the flat shots at the right times, he is way too tough to beat. JDJ had trouble handling his lower trajectory balls taken on the rise, and hit so many of them into the net. Sumit knew when to get aggressive on those shots, and JDJ never solved the issue. His only chance for hitting winners were through drop shots to his left. He tried a few, and hit a couple of those into the net too. The point Sumit played to get 15-40 2MPs was really good!

[jayakris]

For the record, at Rome Challenger 75, Italy (Clay)

[Q1] (12) Sumit Nagal (IND,347) d. Jacepo Berretini (ITA,435) 64 61
[Q2] (12) Sumit Nagal (IND,347) d. (2) Victor Durasovic (NOR,302) 75 57 62
[R1] (Q) Sumit Nagal (IND,347) d. (4) Francesco Maestrelli (ITA,172) 62 64
[R2] (Q) Sumit Nagal (IND,347) d. (WC) Fausto Tabacco (ITA,495) 63 60
[QF] (Q) Sumit Nagal (IND,347) d. (Alt) Max Houkes (NED,303), 75 60
[SF] (Q) Sumit Nagal (IND,347) d. (8) Joris De Loore (BEL,198), 26 75 64
[F] (Q) Sumit Nagal (IND,347) d. Jasper De Jong (NED,234) 63 62



Apparently only the second ATP event title on clay by an Indian in Europe that anybody can remember. Ramesh Krishnan won the Stuttgart ATP once.

[sameerph]

Yes, clinical performance by Sumit today. Also I thought after the first 5-6 games De Jong's game dropped and he made many error hitting into net or long. So, Sumit with the consistency on shots that he displayed was always going to be too good. If one looks at the scorelines, semi final was the only real tough match for Sumit in this tournament. He lost a set in Q2 too but came back to win the third set easily.

Anyway, glad that Sumit is well and truly back to his best form. He is upto #253 in live rankings now but will have to wait for one more week before his improved ranking gets in as there will be no update of rankings tomorrow due to 2 week Madrid Masters going on.

[Sanjay]

I wake up this morning and first thing I check the score. Sumit won! He had such a great tournament after a long time!
He must be feeling encouraged and feeling charged up to do more at the ATP levels.

[Atithee]

The sea of green in tournament results for Sumit is a rarity. I’m so impressed. It’s like an oasis in the desert of Indian tennis.

[Sanjay]

Watch the match here:

https://www.atptour.com/en/atp-challeng ... 3/2151/all