Top 100, consistency next target for Nagal
MUMBAI: The last time Sumit Nagal won five matches on the bounce on the circuit before the previous week was in September 2019, en route to winning the ATP Challenger title in Buenos Aires. A year-and-ahalf later, the Argentine capital has again provided a path for the Indian to go on a similar run, this time on a much bigger stage.
Nagal was looking good to notch up his sixth straight win at the ATP 250 Argentina Open before he ran out of fuel to lose to fifth seeded Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 2-6, 5-7 in the quarter-finals on Friday night. Nagal’s forehand was doing all the talking in the first set, but once the 46th-ranked southpaw forced the world No.150 to play out of his comfort zone, the errors began to show up from the Indian. Nagal fought back from 5-2 down in the decider to get on even terms at 5-5. However, the gruelling hours spent in overcoming two three-set battles in the qualifying rounds and playing six matches in seven days meant the legs weren’t in sync with the mind for the last major push.
Still, it was a solid week on the red dirt for the 23-year-old, coming after early exits in Melbourne and Cordoba. Nagal experienced a couple of firsts— a first ATP Tour level win, a first win against a top-50 player while beating world No.22 Cristian Garin in the previous round. “I needed it very much, especially not having enough matches in the last four months,” Nagal said over phone of his campaign after his match on Friday. “It also made me believe I could stand at this level.”
Stand he did tall enough; now for building on it. It’s evident that Nagal is the most blossoming prospect in Indian tennis, ticking a few boxes over the last couple of years—a first Challenger title in 2017, a
Grand Slam debut at the 2019 US Open, a Grand Slam victory at the 2020 US Open, a wild card entry into the Australian Open this year. In between those milestones there have been a few missteps, and the key challenge for Nagal now will be to string together such deep tournament runs on a more regular basis on the ATP tour. “To play a lot of matches on the ATP 250 or 500 or even higher levels would be my goal,” Nagal said in the postmatch press conference.
Nagal cited the example of his friend and hitting partner in the Melbourne quarantine, Aslan Karatsev. The Russian qualifier, 27, had a breakthrough semi-final run at the Australian Open in February on the back of playing and winning a lot of matches on the ATP Challenger circuit in the latter half of 2020. Taking his cue, Nagal knows that the more such weeks he gets in his calendar the more consistent he can get at the top level. “Look at the way he (Karatsev) played last year,” Nagal said. “He had this belief this year on the court and knew he could beat anyone. When you are on that much confidence, things go your way and everything starts to fall in place as you are much calmer and seeing through things.”
In the last few years, Indian players have provided the odd spark on the ATP tour, be it when Ramkumar Ramanathan beat Dominic Thiem in Antalya in 2017 or when Yuki Bhambri got past Gael Monfils the same year in Washington. But for reasons ranging from injuries to dip in form, they haven’t been able to use that big result as a springboard to continue their progress to the next level.
The legendary Mahesh Bhupathi, who has mentored Nagal and has also been India’s Davis Cup captain, felt the next major checklist for Nagal will be to break into the top 100 of the world rankings. That, in turn, will get him into a lot more ATP main draw matches without having to grind though the qualifiers like in Argentina, which, said Bhupathi, will give a “longer windpipe into the tournament”.
“The examples that you stated are of guys who haven’t consistently played in main draws (since their upset result),” Bhupathi said. “The biggest challenge is to put yourself into 20-25 main draws a year, and then if you have the level, it’s very hard to drop out. So getting into the top 100 is the most important milestone for him (Nagal) now.”
Bhupathi has no doubt that Nagal has the level, and the time. “We all know he is good enough, right? Took a set off (Roger) Federer, beat Garin on clay—so we all know he’s got the level. And he’s still young. Was Somdev (Devvarman) at his level at 23? I don’t think so. Was even someone like Diego Schwartzman at his level at 23? I don’t think so. So I think he’s on the right path,” he said.
The week in Argentina has reiterated that for Nagal, who said he is a more confident player now than a week ago. The run has also pushed his rankings up from 150 to 139, bringing him closer to breaking the 100 barrier. Nagal is eyeing that sooner rather than later. “Being in the top 100 gets you in the main draw of a lot of tournaments. At the end of the day, I want to be playing at that level and I am on my way to doing that as soon as possible,” he said.