BENGALURU:
Sumit Nagal
took a midseason break in April-May because of an injured right shoulder. His serve and forehand were hampered. Nagal hadn’t planned to take a break then. Unfortunately the body doesn’t send out preinjury notifications.
Nagal took five weeks off, after which he planned a loaded schedule with just one goal in mind —
Paris 2024
.
Like an amorous lover on the loose, he chased a distant shot at a place in the singles draw. After three successive first-round losses on his return in May, two of those coming against top 20 opponents — Sebastian Baez and Karen Khachanov — the Heilbronn Challenger was the 26-year-old’s last chance to present a best-possible profile for a spot in the Olympic field.
He would climb to a career-best No. 71 in the rankings even if he won the Challenger, but he would still be out of the direct entry cut. Nagal was determined.
“My goal was to make the Olympics. Heilbronn was my last chance,” he said.
First up for Nagal in Heilbronn, a city in southwest Germany nearly 500 kms from his base in Peine — where he trains at the Nensel Academy — was Nikoli Basilashvili, who was ranked outside the 500 mark at the time but was in the top-20 at No.16 five years ago.
Nagal took the first set but hit rock bottom in the second.
“I wasn’t playing good
tennis
. I was playing horrendous, I was complaining, not really competing,” said Nagal, sitting in one of the small interview rooms at the All-England Club. “I was a break down in the third set when I told myself, man, don’t forget you have to make the Olympics. It is a promise to yourself.”
Nagal, hands crossed over his chest, shook his head.
“To be able to control myself and complete that match was fabulous,” Nagal said. “I was able change my mentality, turn it around when playing with all that pressure.”
Nagal, who lives in Germany while most of his family and friends are back home in India, is a bit of a lone ranger.
“When I’m stressed, I’m a little moody, I can get aggressive on the court, not with the tennis, but verbally,” Nagal said, when asked to describe pressure. “For me, pressure can make my body heavy. When your body is tight, you are burning way more than you usually do and that can pull you down in a match.”
Nagal, ranked No. 68 in the world, will now play his second successive Olympics starting July 27. He knows what to expect.
“The funny part of the Olympics is that you never know what you can do, it is not the same as playing a Grand Slam,” he said. “You can come out for the first match and can completely freeze, the pressure you have is very different. It takes some getting used to.”
There’s a new-found equilibrium to Nagal, a considered pause, that ability to question oneself.
“My mind and body are in the same place,” he said, his shoulders lifting in a gentle motion. “When there’s a maturity about you, you are seeing things better, feeling your body better, you are in a different mood. You feel your aura. Some 10 months ago, I was ranked 150, now I’m top 70, maybe 70 places is not big, but the difference is huge.”
Nagal can see the difference as much as he can feel it. On his racquet strings. In his stride.
English (US) ·