PUNE: It had been an interesting week for Sumit Nagal in Tampere, Finland, where he lifted his fourth career ATP Challenger title.
“The week was a roller-coaster,” Nagal said as he looked back at the 73,000-euro clay-court tournament, where he beat 193-rd ranked Dalibor Srcina of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-5 in Sunday’s final.
The win, which saw him rise to 178 in the ATP rankings, was not achieved without some sweat. But as much as the physical aspect, it was the tennis and temperamental sides of his game that was tested the most, and the 25-year-old Indian was proud that he came through the stern examination in flying colours.
“I had a very tough first round, playing three hour and a half. In the second round, to be to down 1-4 in the final set. And then in the semifinal being 4-2, 40-0 up and losing the set from there,” Nagal recounted his battles in the earlier rounds.
“(Final) was another example where I was 1-4 down and ended up winning the first set. That definitely changed the whole match.”
That would have been inconceivable at the start of the season as he was still finding his way back from a hip surgery that he underwent in late 2021 and kept him away from action till the early part of 2022.
After beating Czech veteran Jiri Vesely, playing as a wildcard, 4 & 1 in the first round, Nagal was stretched the full distance by 23-year-old Brazilian Joao Lucas Reis da Silva in the second.
He then breezed past 26-year-old Tunisian Aziz Dougaz 3 & 3 before Spanish 20-year-old Daniel Rincon forced him to fight back from a set down.
“One thing I did great last week was finding solutions. I was not particularly playing very (good) tennis but I was fighting and I was staying calm and had a good energy. I think that was the biggest change from last couple of weeks,” Nagal said.
He also pointed a peculiar fact with regard to his opponents.
“Looking at the players (last week) you know, I played three lefties,” he said, referring to Vesely, Dougaz and Rincon, “which doesn’t happen very often.
“But definitely a great week with the things I was working on, especially after having a little bit tough last few weeks, not performing the way I wanted to perform.”
