PUNE: A career-threatening hip harm and the lengthy street to go back to motion has now not dimmed the hearth within the stomach for sumit nagal,
Nagal, who has slipped within the scores to 501 now, nonetheless keeps the need to be the most productive singles participant the rustic has produced lately and is able to cross throughout the grind in all places once more.
“The goal stays the same, you know, I want to do something that our last best player did. I want to be at a point where I can change tennis in our country, you know, where we don’t play tennis just for fun, but to say ‘listen, we can also achieve something, we can also do something,’ Nagal said after a practice session ahead of the Tata Open Maharashtra men’s tennis event here on Thursday.
Nagal, likely to get a wildcard for the ATP 250 event, was referring to his mentor Somdev Devvarman, who reached a career-high 62 in world rankings, appeared in two ATP Tour finals and won two gold medals at the 2010 Asian Games.
Nagal’s comeback in April after undergoing a hip surgery was stunted by another injury in the summer and his progress was interrupted in the latter part of the season with a second covid infection.
So much so, that the high of taking on the legendary Roger Federer in the US Open in 2019, and winning a main draw match at the same event the following year seems a distant memory.
But the 25-year-old has taken the reversal in fortunes on the chin and still retains the burning desire to get back to the top echelons of the sport.
“I imply, I’ve discovered how briskly issues alternate, you recognize, from taking part in slam not to even entering a Challenger at this time. It adjustments in point of fact speedy,” Nagal said.
“But additionally, the nice factor is, whilst you do smartly it additionally adjustments very speedy, in an effective way. It’s existence, you recognize, you do not know the way you get up day after today and the way your night time ends.”
Having been ranked a career-high 122 in 2020 and the euphoria that followed his exploits, Nagal was left to face the harsh realities of being a journeyman on the professional tour all over again.
“It feels very, how do I put it? It’s difficult, as a result of you’ll’t in point of fact agenda (upper degree tournaments) anymore. I imply, as of as of late, I have no idea what I’m going to play subsequent.
“The good part is, India is going to have some Challengers at home (in February 2023). I’m very much looking forward to those. So the first two months (of the new season), if I can go playing six, seven tournaments, I’ll be happy.”
Starved of recreation time, Nagal is hungry for extra. “If I can play 35 weeks I know that I will finish (the year) very high but the biggest question is ‘how do I play those 35 weeks without getting injured?’
“I’ve invested so much in health, invested so much in rehab and prehab. Travel with the physio and do a large number of weeks with the physios.”
Nagal, who has slipped within the scores to 501 now, nonetheless keeps the need to be the most productive singles participant the rustic has produced lately and is able to cross throughout the grind in all places once more.
“The goal stays the same, you know, I want to do something that our last best player did. I want to be at a point where I can change tennis in our country, you know, where we don’t play tennis just for fun, but to say ‘listen, we can also achieve something, we can also do something,’ Nagal said after a practice session ahead of the Tata Open Maharashtra men’s tennis event here on Thursday.
Nagal, likely to get a wildcard for the ATP 250 event, was referring to his mentor Somdev Devvarman, who reached a career-high 62 in world rankings, appeared in two ATP Tour finals and won two gold medals at the 2010 Asian Games.
Nagal’s comeback in April after undergoing a hip surgery was stunted by another injury in the summer and his progress was interrupted in the latter part of the season with a second covid infection.
So much so, that the high of taking on the legendary Roger Federer in the US Open in 2019, and winning a main draw match at the same event the following year seems a distant memory.
But the 25-year-old has taken the reversal in fortunes on the chin and still retains the burning desire to get back to the top echelons of the sport.
“I imply, I’ve discovered how briskly issues alternate, you recognize, from taking part in slam not to even entering a Challenger at this time. It adjustments in point of fact speedy,” Nagal said.
“But additionally, the nice factor is, whilst you do smartly it additionally adjustments very speedy, in an effective way. It’s existence, you recognize, you do not know the way you get up day after today and the way your night time ends.”
Having been ranked a career-high 122 in 2020 and the euphoria that followed his exploits, Nagal was left to face the harsh realities of being a journeyman on the professional tour all over again.
“It feels very, how do I put it? It’s difficult, as a result of you’ll’t in point of fact agenda (upper degree tournaments) anymore. I imply, as of as of late, I have no idea what I’m going to play subsequent.
“The good part is, India is going to have some Challengers at home (in February 2023). I’m very much looking forward to those. So the first two months (of the new season), if I can go playing six, seven tournaments, I’ll be happy.”
Starved of recreation time, Nagal is hungry for extra. “If I can play 35 weeks I know that I will finish (the year) very high but the biggest question is ‘how do I play those 35 weeks without getting injured?’
“I’ve invested so much in health, invested so much in rehab and prehab. Travel with the physio and do a large number of weeks with the physios.”