Less than a year after he feared for his future as a professional tennis player, things seem to be falling in place for India’s India’s Sumit Nagal.
A lengthy injury layoff and lack of big support from sponsors sent him almost to the brink of an early exit from the game.
With less than $1,000 left in his bank account, Nagal was struggling to stay afloat.
But the 26-year-old has managed to turn it around remarkably, putting together some impressive performances in the Challengers before making history at the Australian Open last month.
Nagal became the first Indian in 35 years to beat a seeded player in Grand Slams with a stunning win over Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik in Melbourne.
He may have failed to build on that historic first round win, losing the second-round match in four sets, but he made $118,000 in Melbourne.
The Chandigarh-born player was also offered a wildcard to play at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in a city he loves to spend a lot of time training.
Nagal went down in three sets to hard-hitting Italian Lorenzo Sonego in his first match in Dubai on Tuesday night, but he believes opportunities like this will help him bring a sense of stability to his life as a tennis player.
“I am very thankful to Mr Salah Tahlak (Tournament Director), the Dubai Duty Free Committee and all the sponsors for giving me a wild card in the singles event. It’s a different event, I haven’t played too many ATP 500 level tournaments,” Nagal told the Khaleej Times.
A Dubai resident, Nagal never misses an opportunity to take advantage of the wonderful facilities here.
“It’s very easy here, you have plenty of great courts here in Dubai, a lot of tennis players. Things are very easy here, you book, you go, you play. That’s it, it can’t get easier than that,” he said.
“And one thing I really, really like about Dubai is the airport. You find the best flights, the easiest way to travel anywhere in the world. And that is amazing. It makes everything so easy.”
But for life to become easier for singles players in India, Nagal says a lot of things need to change.
“We are struggling to have singles players emerge from India. Only two players are playing in the Grand Slam qualifiers, it’s me and Ankita (Raina). I think that needs to change,” he said.
“It’s such a big country, a lot of great talent. There are a few things, which need to change. They need to have more tournaments and they need to show the path to the young players how to get to the Slams level.”
Despite the impressive prizemoney he earned at the Australian Open, Nagal still cannot afford to bring his physio to tournaments abroad.
“In tennis, the bigger the budget, the more people you have in your team. As of now, I have enough budget to travel with one coach, but my goal is to travel with my coach and physio. I think that would really help,” he said.
But the world number 97 would not have been able to come this far without the backing of Mahesh Bhupathi, India’s doubles legend.
“He has been there for me forever. I started playing tennis because of him,” he said.
“It’s been a long journey. He has been a father figure to me. He has done everything for me. If he wasn’t around, I would have never ended up playing tennis.”