Indian tennis witnessed three legends bid goodbye to the sport over the last five years – Leander Paes in 2020, Sania Mirza in 2023 and
most recently Rohan Bopanna in November. In such a scenario, it is natural for the spotlight to fall on the top-ranked player in the country, someone who is yet to reach the level of the aforementioned icons but has the potential – perhaps more than anyone else – to fill that void.
Sumit Nagal, who wanted to become a cricketer as a child before taking up tennis on the insistence of his father, finds himself carrying the burden of expectations of former players as well as fans on his shoulders. And why wouldn’t he be?
The 28-year-old, after all, had achieved a career-best ranking of No 68 in July 2024 and is currently the only Indian inside the top-300 – either in the ATP or the WTA rankings. Nagal had made heads turn after winning the Wimbledon boys doubles’ title with Vietnam’s Ly Hoang Nam in 2015 and was a star in the making by the time he won his first Challenger title – in Bengaluru two years later.
Lest we forget, Nagal – who hails from Haryana’s Jhajjar and had joined former doubles No 1 Mahesh Bhupathi’s academy in Bengaluru at the age of 10 – has also been involved in some of the biggest moments in Indian tennis over the last decade.
Currently based in Germany, Nagal certainly has massive boots to fill with Paes, Bopanna and other legends having called time on their career. That, however, doesn’t translate to additional pressure every time he makes his way to a court. On the contrary, being in the spotlight is something of an opportunity for him, an opportunity to inspire the young kids and even parents and carry Indian tennis forward.
“I don’t feel pressure. I don’t see it that way. But obviously, it’d be awesome if I can move my tennis towards a place where I can inspire people, I can inspire families, parents,” Nagal told Firstpost in an exclusive interaction.
“Even though we (Indian tennis) are still struggling, I do believe if I can be top-ranked player in the world, I can have an influence on tennis and make the necessary change that we need in India.”
Victory over Bublik one of Nagal’s ‘cleanest matches’ ever
Nagal has been part of some extraordinary moments in recent years, moments which have cemented him not just as the country’s top singles player but also someone who could possibly be discussed in the same breath as Paes, Bopanna and other legends such as Vijay Amritraj, Ramanathan Krishnan and his son Ramesh in the future.
He had, after all, become the first Indian to win a Grand Slam singles main draw match in seven years after beating USA’s Bradley Klahn in the first round of the 2020 US Open.
A little over three years later, Nagal would make history at the 2024 Australian Open by
defeating Russian-born Kazakhstani tennis star Alexander Bublik 6-4 6-2 7-6, becoming the first Indian in 35 years to defeat a seeded player at a Grand Slam.
It was the Sumit Nagal show all the way 🔥
Sumit delivered a massive upset at AO 2024, taking down Alexander Bublik in straight sets 🇮🇳💥
Watch #AO2026, from Jan 18, LIVE on Sony Sports Network TV channels & Sony LIV.#SonySportsNetwork #AustralianOpen #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/YqJZwERBWq
— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) January 5, 2026
Reflecting on his epic feat two years ago, Nagal not only revealed that it was one of the “cleanest matches” of his career, it also did his confidence a world of good despite the fact that he was already an established player at that point and would break into the ATP Top 100 in a matter of months.
“There are going to be matches where you are going to play good. That match was for me one of the cleanest matches that I played. From the beginning of the match towards the end, I did things that I wanted to do. And I was very happy with the way I executed them,” Nagal continued.
“Obviously, it helped me for a year with my confidence. Beating good players always gives you confidence. It gave me a lot of confidence on hardcourt as well, that I’m capable of beating top-ranked players on hardcourt.
“It was great for my development. I feel like I’m a better player every year. If I can be healthy and keep on improving, I feel like I’m in a good spot then,” he added.
‘It’s an honour to represent your country’
That is by no means it as far as Nagal’s involvement in historic moments is concerned. He was also part of the
Indian Davis Cup team that defeated Switzerland by a 3-1 scoreline in their World Group 1 tie in September, marking the first time in 32 years that India had beaten a European nation away from home.
Nagal had played a central role in that triumph with two singles wins in as many days, beating Marc-Andrea Huesler to help the Rohit Rajpal-led side gain a 2-0 lead before clinching his team’s victory and a place in this year’s Qualifiers with a victory over Henry Bernet the following day.
“Davis Cup as an event is very different comparing to playing on ATP. The pressure is there. The whole country is watching. You can win the match and still lose the tie. Or you can lose the match and still win the tie. So, it’s a very unique format. I do believe either people play really, really great tennis in Davis Cup or really bad because of the pressure,” Nagal replied, when asked about his experience playing a team event as a singles specialist.
“It’s an honour obviously to represent your country, to play at this level and to beat a country. If you’re just talking about the Swiss, to beat a country who has such great players.
“And now coming to another tie that we’re facing or we’re playing soon in Feb against Netherlands in Bengaluru. The boys are playing well. I believe that we are in a good form and to believe that things will go in a good way,” he added, setting his sights on the Qualifiers tie against Netherlands that takes place in Bengaluru on 7 and 8 February.
When asked to pick a standout moment from his career though, nothing compares to the experience of going
face to face with 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer at the 2019 US Open.
Not only was Nagal, who had grown up idolising David Ferrer and Somdev Devvarman, making his Grand Slam debut at the time, he was facing none other than an individual widely considered as one of the greatest in the history of the sport. And if that wasn’t enough, Nagal announced himself before the world by taking the opening set against the Swiss legend 6-4.
Federer would recover quickly enough and go on to win the contest 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-4. Nagal, however, had, just given the Indian tennis fraternity a glimpse of what he was capable of offering at the highest level of the sport.
“For me, my biggest moment will always be playing Roger. Because it was just my first Slam. I’ve never made a Slam before that. And if you talk about a Slam victory, then I would say Bublik, because that was the highest player that I’ve beaten.
“And then, as an event, I would say Davis Cup, Olympics. They both play a major role in my career. Playing Medvedev in Tokyo. Playing Paris Olympics. I think both of them were pretty unique for me,” added the 28-year-old, who was part of the Indian Olympic contingent in Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
Nagal hails Roundglass Tennis Academy for incredible results
Coming to the here and now, Nagal had recently announced his partnership with Roundglass Sports, whose tennis academy in Chandigarh had recently recruited
Indian doubles specialist Yuki Bhambri as a mentor. The academy is also home to women’s singles No 1 Karman Kaur Thandi as well as India’s current junior No 1 Hitesh Chauhan.
Commenting on his new partnership, Nagal heaped praise on the Roundglass Tennis Academy – helmed by renowned tennis coach Aditya Sachdeva – for its impact on the sport in India and for providing the support and guidance that some of the country’s leading players as well as budding talent were direly in need of.
“You know how tennis has been in India. It’s very tough for us tennis players to find, I would say, mentors or some sort of financial help or guidance. And I feel Roundglass has been doing it for the last few years. You can see they’ve been giving incredible results. A few of my friends are part of it.
“I look forward to it, I’m excited. I really hope I can keep putting the results and make them proud,” he continued.
The presence of the country’s top-ranked player is bound to have a positive impact on the young recruits at the Roundglass Academy, and Nagal will likely be spending a fair bit of his time sharing valuable tips with the next generation while focusing primarily on further sharpening his skills and scaling even greater heights going forward.
And once he hangs up his boots, Nagal doesn’t rule out the possibility of a role as a mentor or a coach.
“I would like to do something. I don’t know exactly what. Because I would love to give it back to the society. I do feel, as I mentioned earlier, we lack guidance. We lack advice in tennis. I don’t know about other sports. But in tennis, I am very, very sure that this is what a player goes through,” said Nagal, who rates Manas Dhamne and Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi highly and describes them as potential future superstars.
“When you are 14, you don’t know what to do. When you are 16, you don’t know what to do. When you are 18, you don’t know what to do. So, I don’t know yet what I want to do. But definitely, I will be involved with tennis in the future,” he signed off.
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