Editor's note: This feature was published ahead of Sumit Nagal's Round 1 match against Roger Federer, which closed play in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday evening. The popular Indian player gave the Swiss legend a scare by taking the first set in an entertaining four-set match.
Age: 22
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 152 lbs.
ATP Ranking: 190 (career-high)
Grand Slam Main Draws: 1
Sumit Nagal makes his Grand Slam main draw debut on Monday night against No. 3 seed and five-time US Open champion Roger Federer. The 22-year-old qualifier isn’t shy to admit his underdog status against the man he refers to as the “God of tennis.” But after spending the last four years toiling away on the ATP Challenger Tour, the tennis equivalent of the minor leagues in baseball, he views the prime-time showdown in Arthur Ashe Stadium as a reward for his hard work.
“It’s not about winning or losing all the time. It’s just the experience. It’s playing someone who has won 20 Grand Slams,” said Nagal to ATPTour.com. "I don't care what the commentators will be saying about me on TV. I'm going to be enjoying the crowd, playing the best tennis player ever. I'm just some dude from India. I'm fine with that until I make my name."
Fittingly, Nagal’s journey to his first Slam was largely facilitated by fellow Indian and former US Open doubles champion Mahesh Bhupathi. The former doubles No. 1 personally handpicked Nagal in 2007 for his “Apollo Mission 2018” program, which sought to produce an Indian Grand Slam singles champion by 2018. But Nagal, only 10 years old at the time, needed to show his trademark chutzpah at the tryout in New Delhi just to land one of the coveted spots.
“I was hitting with the other kids and there was a moment where I went to Mahesh and said, 'Mr. Bhupathi, could you please look at my game?' I knew who he was, so I grabbed his hand and asked him to look at my game,” Nagal said. "That's the one line that changed my life. If I didn't tell him this, I would not be sitting here right now.”
Nagal won the 2015 Wimbledon boys’ doubles title with Vietnam’s Nam Hoang Ly, becoming only the sixth Indian player to win a junior Grand Slam trophy. His rise up the ATP rankings has been more of a process due to ongoing injury issues, including a torn labrum in 2017 that he considered undergoing shoulder surgery for.
The rising Indian turned a corner in April, though. He started that month at No. 350 in the ATP rankings, but has nearly cut his ranking in half since then and arrived in New York at a career-high standing of No. 190. After reaching five Challenger semifinals in two months, Nagal then qualified for his first ATP Tour main draw last month in Hamburg. He was 0-3 in his previous trips through Grand Slam qualifying, but weathered three quality opponents in last week’s qualifying draw for his latest breakthrough moment.
Nagal’s bank account will also appreciate his New York success. A first-round paycheck at the US Open will yield him $58,000, far exceeding the $37,010 he’s already earned this year.
But regardless of what happens against Federer, Nagal intends to use the match as a stepping stone to bigger things. With no Indian player currently inside the Top 80 of the ATP rankings, Nagal wants to put tennis back in the front pages in India.
“My goal in tennis is to do really well. Not just being No. 80 or 90 in the world, so people aren't saying that India is only good at cricket,” he told ATPTour.com. “People don't say it's an amazing tennis country anymore and I want to be the one that changes that."
