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”

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

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.

After missing the past two years, Karen Khachanov made a winning return to Wimbledon on Wednesday but in unfortunate circumstances. 

The 21st seed was unable to play in 2022 due to the banning of Russian players from participating as a result of the war in Ukraine. Then in 2023, he was forced to withdraw after suffering a stress fracture and a partial fracture in his sacrum S1 bone. A frustrating situation for the Russian who reached the quarter-final in his previous appearance at The All England Club. 

In his latest match, Khachanov was leading compatriot Aslan Karatsev 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(11), 2-0, before he retired from the match due to injury. An unfortunate situation but still a boost for the world No.22. 

Following his match, Ubitennis spoke to the 28-year-old about his form, the mental side of tennis, skipping the Olympics and why he is still taking extra measures to protect his body after last year’s injury. 

UBITENNIS: Congratulations on the win, even though it ended in unfortunate circumstances. 

KHACHANOV: I must say, I’m happy with the outcome because I won the match. 

There was, I think, one situation when he fell down in the tiebreak of the third set, which was very intense. They were really, close points and extremely tough.

I’m super happy I could finish finally this tiebreak of the third set.
I saw that he started to have some difficulties running to the right side, to the forehand.

I just hope that he didn’t get hurt. badly. I hope all he has is some pain but it doesn’t get worse.

UBITENNIS: How would you rate your current form on the grass?

KHACHANOV: The performance itself, was good. Sometimes the question is how you win those important moments, important sets. I’m happy that I could get the win on grass, especially in Wimbledon after two years that I didn’t play on this surface.

I will seek to keep improving and play better. But at the same time,  I admit that it’s a good win.

UBITENNIS: What adjustments do you want to make? 

KHACHANOV: I would say it’s with the return and in the rallies with some balls. Trying to find the balance between defending and playing, let’s say, extremely aggressive.

How to take each ball and treat it differently. 

UBITENNIS: Being a former Grand Slam semi-finalist, how do you manage your expectations at these events?

KHACHANOV: I said it many times. You try to give your best tennis, especially at the slams and at the biggest tournaments.

Right now I’m just really focusing on each day and each match because I just want to try to get better.

The last few weeks I was not having the results I wanted. So that’s why now I just don’t try even to think further.  I just try to stay confident with the game that I’m seeking to (do). 

But at the same time focus more on simple things and do not go further with with my thoughts. 

UBITENNIS: So it’s more about working on the mental side of your game?  

KHACHANOV: It’s all connected…
What are you thinking?
How is your mind working?
How do you deal with stress?
How do you play? Aggressive. Defensive.
It’s all connected.

That’s why sometimes you are a little bit out of the out of the zone. That’s why you try to put this puzzle all together, that everything is functioning in the right direction.

And I’m not talking only about the results, winning or losing.

I’m talking about the the way you feel, the way you accept mistakes, the way you push forward, how you bounce back and this whole, drama that you have in your daily matches.

So that’s why I said that I try, to put everything in order to be better.

UBITENNIS: You have decided to miss the Olympic Games this year. What are the reasons for doing so? 

KHACHANOV: There are a few things I would say.

The main is with my schedule and with the calendar, and due to my health after I was injured last year, I didn’t play the whole summer.

That’s why, unfortunately, this year I had to make this tough decision. To change from grass court to clay just for one event, and then go straight to the hard courts without any preparation. I just felt that it would be, tough for for the body.

I still have sometimes issues here and there with my injury from last year.

UBITENNIS: So are you suffering from long-term issues? 

KHACHANOV: It’s more of a general issue. That’s why I have to work a lot with my physical coach and with my physio to try to kind of prevent that.

On the eve of the all-Italian Wimbledon derby with Matteo Berrettini Jannik Sinner’s coach speaks with Italian press about the state-of-the-art of the world No.1

How do you rate yesterday’s debut?

VAGNOZZI: Very well. The first few rounds are always tricky. Yesterday he was slipping a little too much, but we have to consider that the courts are really very wet. Here at Wimbledon the first rounds are always difficult. This is so typical of grass events and Halle proved it.

Were there any differences compared to Halle?

VAGNOZZI: We won a great match yesterday; Halle is clear evidence of the fact that grass-court matches are always so close. We won three matches in the third set there as well, going through difficult moments. Even yesterday it wasn’t easy against Hanfmann who at a certain point started playing very well.

What are the difficulties in facing an opponent you already know well like Matteo Berrettini? Does it change your routine?

VAGNOZZI: The routine is always the same. The only difference is that it is a derby, but by now we are used to this too. Playing against the Italians is ever so frequent because there are so many of them around that it’s almost normal to play derbies.

In terms of technique, in recent years you have definitely worked very much on the angled crosscourt forehand followed by coming into the net. How important is this shot on grass?

VAGNOZZI: There are a lot of little things that make the difference, like the fact that you are more confident in slicing balls, the fact that you have added some serve and volleys to your gameplay, which on this surface you always need. Knowing that you have fewer weaknesses that your opponent can delve into certainly helps.

How have you been spending the day before this match with Berrettini?

VAGNOZZI: Today we have already finished training. Jannik is also a good meteorologist, because he chose to train at 11 o’clock, so we finished before the rain [or maybe he wanted to go and watch Anna Kalinskaya’s match in the afternoon]. We’ve been training with Sonego, now there’s physio, and he’ll probably be cooking tonight.

Have you noticed any changes since he became world No. 1?

VAGNOZZI: He’s always the same guy, we always set ourselves new goals: this year he’s won his first Grand Slam, he’s become No. 1 in the world, and now we have to stay No. 1 and go and win a few more Slams. His attitude with us hasn’t changed, I don’t know if he’s changed with you…

Were you surprised that he opened up very cooly about his relationship with Kalinskaya?

VAGNOZZI: He’s definitely growing up, and as he gets older he takes on more responsibility. He’s willing to show more of his personality.

Can the physical work aimed at gaining 3-4 kg of muscle be considered accomplished and finished, even if you obviously never stop working and trying to improve?

VAGNOZZI: I think so, maybe you can still put on a few more muscles, but not too much, because you shouldn’t overdo it by putting too much mass. However, these are questions you should ask Umberto [Ferrara, Sinner’s physical coach]. From my point of view, I believe that his qualities must remain speed, rapidity in moving, and if you go to put on too much muscle mass you lose something elsewhere. He doesn’t need more strength, the ball comes off his racquet pretty fast.

Is there a shot that you consider Jannik’s litmus test? What tells you if it’s a good day or not?

VAGNOZZI: Jannik is a very complete player, but when he comes out on  the court and hits his backhand cleanly,