CHENNAI: INDIAN tennis can often be a tough sport to follow, especially in singles. The wins are few and far between. Most of the successes came last century when the sport wasn’t as professional. Sania Mirza remains the only Indian singles player to have been ranked inside the top-30 this side of 2000 while Somdev Devvarman’s ranking of 62 remains the best for an Indian man in over 25 years. In recent years, this drought was further exacerbated as the likes of Yuki Bhambri, because of the myriad injuries he has suffered, focused more on doubles play. The same applied to Ramkumar Ramanathan. As a result, even sporadic appearances at the main draws of Majors had become a thing of the past.
One man who has tried to swim against the tide has been Sumit Nagal. In 2019, he made global headlines for taking a set off Roger Federer at the US Open. At the same venue in a Covid-hit 2020, he had become the first Indian to win a singles match at any major since Devvarman had managed it in 2013. At the 2021 Australian Open, he received a wild card to directly feature in the main draw, a rare feat for an Indian. Since then, injury-enforced absence and qualifying disappointments had kept him away from the big-time tennis.
He had the chance to return to the stage at the Australian Open via a wild-card but the All India Tennis Association (AITA) burned that chance as the 26-year-old had ruled himself out of the upcoming Davis Cup tie in Pakistan.
But there’s something about Nagal. He dusted himself up and won three qualifying matches, all without dropping a set, last week to advance to the main draw. He would be facing Alexander Bublik, the 31st seed. In isolation, it seemed like a tough match. But Bublik has a penchant for self-destruction, even on good days. The big-serving Kazakh, a three-time champion on the Tour, is a bit of a goldilocks player. So all Nagal had to do was cut out the errors, play clean tennis and he was going to be in the match.
That’s what happened. Even as the Kazakh had decided that the world was against him, the Indian was disciplined. The numbers back this out. He had no double faults (Bublik had nine), served better (74 per cent of first serves compared to 56 for his opponent). The 26-year-old Bublik also had 35 unforced errors as he struggled in windy conditions (at one point, he even complained to the chair about the wind). The end result was a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(5) win for the Indian.
“The plan was to keep the first-serve percentage very high and not give Sascha (Bublik) too many chances, too many look-arounds where he can pressure in the second return, and I think I did that pretty well,” Nagal, who has now won two main draw matches at this level, said after the game. The win also means he becomes the first Indian singles player to beat a seeded player at a Major since 1989 when Ramesh Krishnan had beaten Mats Wilander at the same event.
The World No. 137 next faces China’s Shang Juncheng, the very highly-rated 18-year-old.
New career high
Irrespective of what Nagal does going forward at Melbourne, the effects of this win will keep him in good stead for the rest of the year. With the prize money (A$ 180,000) and ranking points (80 points) he has already guaranteed for himself, he can look at travelling with his coach and other support staff for more tournaments as well as earn entry into tour-level events. He’s also projected to rise to a new career high of 118 (previous high was 122). If he can beat Juncheng, he will be on the cusp of breaking into the top-100.
Select results (1st round, Day 3)
Men’s singles: 1st round: Alexander Zverev bt Dominik Koepfer 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-3; Casper Ruud bt Albert Rams Vinolas 6-1, 6-3, 6-1; Carlos Alcaraz bt Richard Gasquet 7-6 (5), 6-1, 6-2.; Women’s singles: Iga Swiatek bt Sofia Kenin 7-6 (2), 6-2; Jelena Ostapenko bt Kimberly Birrell 7-6 (5), 6-1; Elena Rybakina bt Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (6), 6-4; Emma Raducanu bt Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-2; Jessica Pegula bt Rebecca Marino 6-2, 6-4.