MELBOURNE:
Mahesh Bhupathi
first met
Sumit Nagal
sixteen years ago when the veteran pro was on a talent hunt for his
tennis
academy in Bengaluru. The racket head speed generated by the ten-year-old caught his eye. "He hit a heavy ball, bigger than his size," Bhupathi said.
The 49-year-old, former No.1 in doubles, speaking to TOI from Dubai, saw something more than shot making skills in Nagal.
"He has this hunger," Bhupathi said. It is that hunger that has steered the course of Nagal's journey as he battled back from hip surgery.
"Injuries like the hip injury he endured messes with everything, your body, your confidence," Bhupathi said. "There's always that question of whether you can come back and play at that level again. Coming back in singles and coming back in doubles are two different things. The rehab, working your way back men- tally and physically, it's different."
Bhupathi added, "I've spoken to him multiple times these last years when his bank balance was under 500 USD."
Nagal, into the second round for the first time at
Melbourne Park
, after shutting out the 31st seed Alexander Bublik, goes up against the 18-year-old Chinese wildcard entrant Juncheng Shang, a left-hander, who made the second round here last year. Nagal is ranked 137 and Shang 140, only a slim line separating the duo on that scale. The last Indian to make the singles third round here was
Sania Mirza
in the 2005 and 2008 Australian Opens.
"It's very mental," Bhupathi said of the sport. "When he plays Shang, he goes from rank outsider (against Bublik) to being the senior pro, playing an 18-year-old ranked just about where he is. This one Sumit is expected to win, that's a big mental adjustment to make right there."
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