After spending the past few years predominantly on the Challenger Tour, Sumit Nagal is currently in the midst of a breakthrough season. 

The 26-year-old is ranked 73rd in the world after cracking the top 100 for the first time in February. At the Australian Open, he became the first Indian man to beat a seeded player at a Grand Slam for 35 years after upsetting Alexander Bublik in the first round. Then in Monte Carlo, he became the first singles player from his country to win a main draw Masters 1000 match, as well as the first to qualify for the tournament in 42 years.

Nagal’s rapid rise earned him the right to play in Wimbledon this year for the first time. A big coup for India considering the last time they had a player in the men’s singles draw was Prajnesh Gunneswaran in 2019. Unfortunately, Nagal’s experience at The All-England Club was brief. He lost his opening match  2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 to Miomir Kecmanovic, as well as in the first round of the doubles event.  

“It was a great experience,” he tells Ubitennis.

“I really enjoyed it. I played on grass after a very long time. I did lack a bit of experience on it but it was a good lesson and an amazing atmosphere.

“What a feeling to play in the main draw of Wimbledon.  It has a very unique and different vibe compared to the other slams.

“It’s not the result I wanted, especially in singles but for the circumstances I had, I think I will take this and try to improve on the things that I need to.”

Incredibly, Wimbledon was the first time Nagal had played a grasscourt event since 2018. Whilst there is clear disappointment about his performance, it doesn’t change what has largely been a strong year for him so far.

“I think the moment of breaking the top hundred because for so long, I was close to it but never really broke it.” He replied when asked what his standout achievement of 2024 has been so far. 

“Also winning the challenger in Chennai,  I did end up crying. That moment meant a lot to me.”

“I see change but not in a positive way”

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Coming from a country that has an estimated population of 1.4 billion people, some might expect Nagal to be hamperedby high expectations or a surge in popularity. However, this isn’t the case.

“In tennis, India’s single tennis players are not really known for it. so I don’t think there is there is a much of expectation.” He explained.

“We have a singles player once in five years who’s playing a slam once in seven years. So I don’t feel it that way.

“I would say there are more expectations from myself because I do want to do well in my career and I want to climb the rankings. Keep on knocking on those doors of different sorts of challenges that I go through.”

There have been plenty of challenges for Nagal throughout his life. As a youngster, he was based in Bengaluru and trained at an academy set up by Mahesh Bhupathi. However, when the facility shut down he ended up setting off to Canada as a teenager to develop his tennis. Over the coming years, he would continue to experience highs and lows. At the 2019 US Open, he famously took a set off Roger Federer but three years later he found himself outside the top 600 due to a combination of injury, the Covid-19 pandemic and his inner demons. At the end of 2022, he had less than €1000 in his bank account. 

Unlike other countries, Sumit relies on private support instead of his national federation, the All India Tennis Association (AITA). 

“It’s a little bit, a little bit tough to get any help from them.” He said.

He doesn’t refrain from speaking openly about the concerns he has about tennis back home. Certain ‘changes’ taking place cause concern for him and his only hope is that action can be taken to correct it. As it currently stands, India has only three players in the top 500 on the PIF ATP ranking but Nagal is the only one in the top 300. To put that into perspective, there are 12 British, 18 Australian and 24 Italian players in the top 300.

“Right now we are struggling in singles especially. We don’t have enough players to compete at the highest levels in singles.” He said. 

“I think it’s gonna take a while. I do see a bit of change but not in a positive way. What is going on in the country, I just hope someone can take a step and start to change things around. Otherwise, it’s going to be very, very tough.

“It’s going to be the same story. One top 100 player in ten years, 15 years, maybe something like this. But if things don’t change around, it’s it’s not gonna be much, much better than this.”

As to what these issues are, Nagal believes the current tennis structure in India is missing the basics. 

“We are still missing a base, a fundamental, a system which is not there. And if you want to play at this level, you need this. This is the most basic thing you can have.” He continued.

“Have few good coaches and have balls to practice. This is just the basic and we don’t really have it.

“I’m not even gonna get into details because the first step would be to have a high-performance program going on.

“I don’t know if it’s going to be by the association or by the private sponsors, but, if you want to create players to play at the high level, you have to give these things or else it’s always going to be a player trying to find private funding, living in outside India, playing either in America or Europe or somewhere.”

The future

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It is no secret that Nagal doesn’t always see eye-to-eye with the AITA and he has voiced similar concerns before. However, that doesn’t affect the national pride he has. Something he hopes to demonstrate at the Paris Olympics which will be held at Roland Garros. At the Tokyo Games, he was the first Indian to reach the second round in 25 years.  

“My goal from the beginning of the year was to play in the Olympics. It’s a proud, proud feeling for me. This is going to be my second, second Olympic.” He said. 

“I’m gonna another chance for me to try my best and and and keep the flag high for India.”

Nagal now aims to play a couple of tournaments on the clay to get ready for Paris. Then the US swing will be calling him. 

“That biggest goal is being healthy because if you’re healthy and you’re playing tournaments, that’s the best thing you can ask for.” He concludes.