By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
“Roger” was the name that quickly came off the lips of Sumit Nagal when I asked the 22-year-old from New Delhi, India who he would want to play in the first round of the U.S. Open in his first-ever Grand Slam main draw match after advancing through the qualifying tournament.
“It’s what you look for, it’s what you want when you are young,” said Nagal of the potential of playing the legends of the game like Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal. “You would say, ‘I wish I will play Roger one day. I wish I will play Rafa one day.’ That’s what you wish for. I will be very, very happy if I get that. I would be super pumped.”
Just minutes after throwing out to the universe his wish to fill in the spot in the 128-player men’s singles draw reserved for a qualifier to play Federer, the 20-time major tournament winner, Nagal’s wish manifested for an opportunity he said would be “super amazing.”
After toiling on the Futures and Challenger circuit around the world for four years, Nagal will play in his first main draw Grand Slam tournament match and only his third at the ATP Tour main draw level against the man many consider the greatest player of all-time in the Arthur Ashe Stadium, the largest tennis stadium in the world.
“That’s what way you play for,” he said of the opportunity to play the big players in the big events. “Nobody wants to play for a Challenger or a Futures. You want to play ATP and you want to play big names. You want to compete at a high level. That’s when you improve the most, when your opponents are better than you. That’s when you come out and you are at a higher intensity and a higher level.”
Nagal was eager to revel that he was ready to rise to the occasion that lay ahead of him, much like he rose to the occasion after trailing by 7-5, 4-1 in his final-round qualifying match Friday against Joao Menenez of Brazil, the winner of the Pan American Games gold medal earlier this month. Nagal was able to raise the level of his game, and take advantage of his opponent’s nerves, to fight back and win 11 of the last 14 games of the match to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 and achieve the best result of his professional career.
Nagal, the 2015 Wimbledon junior boys doubles champion, is ranked a career-high No. 190 in the world this week.
