 "Sumit Nagal opened up on his 2024 season, opting out of the Davis Cup and more. Image: First Sports screengrab")
Sumit Nagal has had a roller-coaster year that included the highs of qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics to the lows of dealing with the Davis Cup saga. Apart from qualifying for the Paris Olympics , Nagal broke into the top 100 of the ATP rankings in February when he won the Chennai Open title.
In April this year, Nagal, currently ranked 98th, also became the first Indian to win an ATP Masters 1000 match when he defeated Italian Matteo Arnaldi. Earlier this year, Nagal had also reached the second round of the Australian Open, where he lost to China’s Shang Juncheng.
Nagal recently opened up on his year during an exclusive interview with Firstpost’s Rupha Ramani on the First Sports show. “Breaking top 100 in India in Chennai. First time you get into that double digit was special for me because I always have been chasing the ranking in that sense. Of course, playing in the Olympics, my second Olympics. It’s not easy to play in Paris,” he said on the show’s Beyond the Line segment.
“I had to make sure that I had to win a tournament to make the cut, which I ended up doing which was also tough, and a very unique way to do it. Again, the Masters in Monte Carlo. So, there were some moments where it lit up the year. If you keep playing on the highest tour, you get these chances where one-two matches can change your life,” he added.
In September, Nagal had opted out of India’s Davis Cup tie against Sweden in Stockholm . This created controversy, and the All India Tennis Association (AITA) raised concerns regarding the 27-year-old’s “possibly skipping” the Davis Cup tie. Nagal, however, later clarified, saying that he had opted out due to an injury.
“They can say whatever they want. I wasn’t really playing tennis, so what am I gonna say right? I was way more worried about what is about to happen if I get to play or not in the next three months, so there was more focus on it,’ Nagal said on the issue. The Jhajjar-born athlete reiterated that while balancing between playing for India and playing ATP Tours can be “tricky”, representing the country will never take a backseat.
“Don’t think it was super tough. Sometimes it makes more sense or less sense to play the ATP Tour. Obviously you have to make sure also about your rankings, what your goal are because at the end of the day, it’s the ATP that feeds you. That’s where you make the money, unfortunately. Sometimes it can be tricky, but if I am available and have nothing going on, I am always looking forward to representing India,” Nagal said.