India No. 1 Sumit Nagal in action during the ATP Challenger tournament in Pune. New Delhi: Sumit Nagal has just walked off the court after playing his first round match at the ATP Challenger in Delhi. He cruised past Spain’s David Jorda Sanchis in straight sets and posed for selfies with a handful of children who patiently waited for the match to end. After an hour and 28 minutes on court, Nagal rushed to the dressing room to do his conditioning exercises and looked fresh after an hour or so.
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As the winter chill in Delhi gave way to heat in the second week of February, Nagal spoke briefly to his coach Sascha Nensel while sitting near the pool at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) complex.One topic may have been how he felt physically on the court. The footage looked good for the most part. Nagal hit 14 match points, converted two of three break points and was more accurate than his opponent: 20 unforced errors to Sanchis’ 38. He admitted there was a drop in intensity that made him sloppy.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!The 28-year-old ended the 2025 season early and spent 5-6 weeks in the pre-season focusing on several things, but the most important thing was to be physically fit under the watchful eye of his conditioning coach Miloš Galecic.“If I could change my body, I would do it like this,” he said with a snap of his fingers. “It’s really frustrating. It’s really annoying. It’s been really hard. I don’t know what to say, honestly,” Nagal added to TimesofIndia.com, the irritation palpable in his words.
Sumit Nagal in action during the ATP Challenger in Delhi.
Nagal knows the frustration of injury all too well. In 2021, he underwent hip surgery that sidelined him for six months. Due to a back injury, he withdrew from the Davis Cup tie in 2024. The setbacks continued a year later. Also this year, a hip flexor tear forced him to withdraw mid-match at the ATP Challenger in Nonthaburi, Thailand.“Thanks for the bumpy ride 2025,” he wrote on social media after a year without a singles title and falling from the top 100 in the rankings to world No.277.“Getting injured in random tournaments, (to) random balls, no pattern. It’s very frustrating, but I’ve also accepted that it’s part of it. It’s also annoying that it takes my rhythm. I’m a small guy. I need to play in rhythm. It’s very difficult for me to just stand on the court and go boom, boom, boom.“I need to play, play, play. My best years have been when I’ve been injury-free. I think the last 15-17 months have been very unfortunate, with 4-5 different injuries, but I’m trying my best. I’m working as hard as I can. Right now there are no ifs, buts or maybes,” he continued.
Sumit Nagal in action during the ATP Challenger in Delhi.
The “best years” Nagal refers to are feats such as qualifying for the 2024 Australian Open and defeating world No. 27 Alexander Bublik. He then clinched the ATP Challenger in Chennai. In Monte Carlo, it was a three-setter against Holger Rune.Now, it’s no wonder he spends a little more time on fitness and rehabilitation. The world number 278 has changed his diet, eating less gluten and reminding himself to be patient as the body goes through changes.Through these injuries, recovery and constant struggles, Nagal, who was once world number 68 in July 2024, has come of age.“I think the surgery was where I really matured. The reason was that I watched a lot of tennis in those months. I understood the patterns,” Nagal said.
If you fight for a while, it can affect your movements. When I had my hip surgery, I tried to play without pain for a year
Sumit Nagal
“Of course you also get a little older. You become more emotionally stable. Things just happen because you’ve been there for a while. You understand what’s what. Now you have experience. You’re calmer, more mature. So I’d say those things made the biggest difference,” he continued.“Injuries are very difficult to tell. If you fight for a while, then it can affect your movements. When I had hip surgery, I tried to play without pain for a year. “And then when I decided, ‘listen, I can’t really play like this. I need to work things out’. But I also lost almost one and a half to two years because you lose so many months trying to work things out.”
Sumit Nagal at the ATP Challenger tournament in Pune.
“When the surgery is done, it takes you almost 8-10 months to come back, because you also have to be patient with the joint that comes out of the surgical ambulatory,” he emphasized.Concerns about Nagal and his team returned in January. When it was confirmed that it was not bad enough to require surgery, the Delhi-born worked hard to recover and rehabilitate alongside Yash Pandey, who has worked extensively with the Indian No.1. The expected 5-6 weeks of rehab were shaved down to three weeks with “no days off”.On the pitch, the struggles continue. After six tournaments – Australian Open Wild Card Playoff, Bengaluru Challenger, Nonthaburi Challenger, Chennai Challenger, Delhi Challenger, Pune Challenger – Nagal has failed to string together two wins in a row.None hurt more than the loss against Harold Mayotte in Bengaluru. The Indian led in the tiebreak of the third set 6:2 and had the finish line in sight after three hours. He saved two match points and now had seven match points of his own. One by one they kept moving away from him. One missed opportunity was when Nagal misjudged the ball expecting it to be long on, only to watch it take the line.Many weeks later, he has a pragmatic approach to the season and the defeats so far.“I think the loss in Bangalore was very unfortunate. It was really bad for a while. But then I also realized that if I’m in this position 10 times, I’m probably going to win 9 times. So I said, ‘Man, you know, take it, you can’t win them all. You’re going to have matches like that because I know I’ve been on the other side and you really win too. And every tennis player loses from that. good position,'” Nagal said.Sumit’s favorite part of the season starts right now – on clay. He returned to his academy in Germany and the first tournament is in Zadar, Croatia, with the possibility of the French Open. Now he concentrates on the controllable things – backhand, serve, volley.“Other things I can’t really control. And if I can control those things, I’ll be a better player,” he said with the maturity of someone whose patient game is now unfortunately matched by his patience with off-court injuries.
