Sumit Nagal thread

[sameerph]

Sumit does get in as a lucky loser. We also have Divij and Bala in doubles with their respective partners. So, I will open a thread for this tournament.

[Ullhas]

Sumit qualifies for Olympics after spate of withdrawals. Need to be seen he'd grab the opportunity. If he can make to Tokyo, he has chance to play mixed with Sania.

[arjun2761]

Can we trade his spot for Bops? MxD is our best hope but Sumit is literally the worst of our men for doubles.

[Ullhas]

I had same thought in mind but apparently only those who reach Tokyo through valid qualification in other categories are eligible to apply for MxD draw.

[sameerph]

Guys, we are discussing about this in Tokyo olympics thread. Sumit can pull Rohan in the mens doubles draw based on one of the spots which are reserved as priority for singles players. It seems they are 1-2 out from mens doubles draw. If they somehow get into mens doubles, Rohan can get into mixed double too. But, time is running out.

[sameerph]

Btw, this is what Sumit said in this article today-

Nagal makes singles cut for Tokyo Olympics; AITA pairs him with Bopanna, withdraws Sharan

"To be honest, I have been struggling with a few things, I am not going to name it. Getting into Olympics will hopefully change things in my career. It''s going to be amazing experience. I will give my 100 per cent on the court."

[sameerph]

Sumit is back to challenger circuit and playing his first round today.

At Liberec Challenger 80, Czech Republic (Clay)

[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,159) vs. Maximilian Merterer (GER,211)

Merterer is a former top 50 player and qualified for French open this year. So, in current form tough match for Sumit.

[jayakris]

^^^ As you expected, a tough outing. It is not easy to get ready for the usual grind after something like an Olympics.

[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,159) l. Maximilian Merterer (GER,211), 46 36

[jayakris]

At the €44,820 Rhine Assets Open Challenger, Meersbusch, GER (clay)

[R1] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,159) vs Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera (CHI,197)

It is the first main draw match on the center court on Monday, not before 1 pm (after an 11:30 am Qualifying match)

[sameerph]

Sumit tied up 1 set all.

Topsy turvy match. He was up 5-3 in the first set and served for the set at 5-4 but got broken twice to lose that set 5-7.

Then, was down a break twice at 0-2 and 1-3 but broke back both times and then went on to break again to win the second set 6-4.

His Chilean opponent qualfied for Wimbledon this year and took a set off Kevin Anderson in first round. He also has a couple of challenger finals and a semi final this year. So, an in-form player.

[jayakris]

Broken twice in the third set and facing serve at 1-5 now ... Sumit saved 3 match points, and Marcelo saved two BPs, ut finally Sumit broke him to stay alive a bit longer... The live stream is gone... Serving at 2-5; holds easily, 3-5... Sumit threatened again with a 15-30, but Marcelo held serve this time and won it.

At the €44,820 Rhine Assets Open Challenger, Meersbusch, GER (clay)
[R1] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,159) l. Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera (CHI,197), 57 64 36

Sumit needs to do something about how streaky he is, in his matches. Maybe because there isn't a lot of margin of error in his game, and he has to execute at a high level. It is tough to do that consistently. But he has not way but to become consistent, to win at a higher rate than he is doing now.

[sameerph]

The points won in this match were dead even- 115 each. So, it is the key points which Sumit lost which made the difference. I think Sumit has lost a bit of confidence since his French open qualifying due to which he is losing these matches. Prior to that he was winning many of these clutch matches. Needs luck for him to win a couple of such matches and then he will be back to his usual self.

[jayakris]

^^^ But it was fine in this match though. I saw the final games from when he was down 0-5 and serving at deuce. He came through. In the next game, he saved a couple of match points and broke the other guy. Then held serve easily. Then took the other guy to deuce again. But the big points are hit or miss for him. It is like he has no margin of error. If the shots are not perfect, he will lose the point, so a little loss of form (which can happen at any point in a match) will send him into trouble. The thing is, against top players, there is nothing much he has, that he can rely on, to take control. Like, he cannot "raise his game" at will. He can't serve any harder or hit any harder. If he needs more pace on a shot, he needs the other guy's shot to be of the kind he can generate pace from. If not, again, he can't deliberately do much. All he can do is to avoid mistakes, and then, there is little margin of error too. So, a little loss of form, or some change made by the other guy (deliberately or by mistake!) can throw Sumit into a break or two. He has no options but to become even more mistake-free against top-100 players or some top-200 player playing in top form.

[Rajiv]

He ( Sumit) has to protect almost 255 points in the next 2 months and that pressure might also be playing at the back of his mind and maybe could be constraining him from playing freely , and say for example he is only able to earn 50 points , a 200 point loss will nose dive him in the 250's , but at the same time this danger can have the opposite effect and can also spur him, lets see how it goes , and the coming few weeks are very crucial for him as far as his future ranking is concerned.

And this issue of falling rankings not only Sumit but is also going to affect our other 2 guys with Prajnesh having to protect 240 points and Ram the least 130 points and based on his present form(Ram) might just be able to stay where he is right now at the end of the year.

[prasen9]

End of the year is just another arbitrary point. Does not matter. They should just play game by game and try to keep winning. Practice, get better, plan well, take care of your body, move on.