New Delhi: Sumit Nagal had just walked off the court after playing his first round match at the ATP Challenger in Delhi. He outplayed Spain’s David Jorda Sanches in straight sets and posed for selfies with a handful of children who patiently waited for the match to end. After spending an hour and 28 minutes on the court, Nagel arrived in the locker room to do his cool-down exercises and looked fresh about an hour later.
As Delhi’s chill gave way to heat in the second week of February, Nagal sat by the pool at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) complex and had a brief chat with her coach Sasha Nansel.One topic, perhaps, was how he felt physically on the court. The shots, for the most part, looked good. Nagel hit 14 winners, converted two of three break points and was more accurate than his opponent: 20 unforced errors to Sanchez’s 38. He lacked intensity, he admitted, which made him sloppy.Go beyond limits with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!The 28-year-old ended his 2025 season early and spent 5-6 weeks in pre-season focusing on a number of things, but staying physically fit was key for his fitness trainer Milos Galicic.“If I could change my body, I would do it this way,” he said with his fingers crossed. “It’s really disappointing. It’s really upsetting. It’s been really hard. I don’t know what to say, honestly,” Nagal added to TimesofIndia.com, irritation evident in his words.
Sumit Nagal in action during the ATP Challenger in Delhi.
Nagel knows the frustration of injuries all too well. He underwent hip surgery in 2021 which kept him out for six months. A back injury saw him withdraw from the Davis Cup tie in 2024. Back niggles continued a year later. Also that year, a hip flexor tear forced him to retire mid-match at the ATP Challenger in Nonthaburi, Thailand.“Thanks for the bumpy ride, 2025,” she wrote on social media after not winning a singles title for a year and slipping out of the top 100 in the rankings to world No. 277.“Getting injured in random tournaments, random balls, no pattern. It’s very frustrating but I’ve accepted that’s part of it. It’s also annoying that it throws off my rhythm. I am a small man. I need to play in rhythm. It’s very hard for me to stand on the court and boom, boom, boom.“I have to play, play, play. My best years have been when I’ve been injury-free. I think the last 15-17 months have been very unfortunate, with 4-5 different injuries, but I’m doing my best. I’m doing as much as possible. Right now, there are no ifs, buts or maybes,” he continued.
Sumit Nagal in action during the ATP Challenger in Delhi.
The ‘best years’ that Nagal refers to are performances such as qualifying for the 2024 Australian Open and defeating world number 27 Alexander Bublik. He then won the ATP Challenger in Chennai. Next was a three-setter against Holger Rooney in Monte Carlo.Now, not surprisingly, he’s spending a bit more time on fitness and rehabilitation. The world number 278 has changed his diet, eating less gluten and reminding himself to be patient as his body changes.Through those injuries, recovery and continued struggle, Nagel, once world No. 68 in July 2024, has matured.“I think surgery was where I really matured. It was because I watched a lot of tennis in those months. I understood the patterns,” Nagel said.
If you struggle for a while, it can affect your mobility. When I had this hip surgery, I struggled to play without pain for a year.
Sumit Nagal
“Obviously, you get a little older, too. You become more emotionally stable. Things just work because you’ve been there for a while. You understand what’s what. You now have experience. You are more calm, more mature. So I would say those are the things that make the biggest difference,” he continued.“It’s very difficult to say with an injury. If you struggle for a while, it can affect your mobility. When I had this hip surgery, I was struggling to play without pain for a year. “And then that’s when I decided, ‘Listen, I can’t really play like this. I need to figure things out’. But at the same time, I lost about a year and a half to two years because you lose so many months trying to figure things out.
Sumit Nagal at the ATP Challenger tournament in Pune.
“When the surgery is done, it takes about 8-10 months for you to come back because a joint that comes out of the surgical clinic, you also have to be a patient,” he stressed.Fears for Nagel and his team returned in January. When it was confirmed that it was not bad enough to warrant surgery, the Delhi-born worked extensively on rehabilitation and rehabilitation with Yash Pandey, who has worked extensively with the India No.1. The expected 5-6 weeks of recovery was shaved down to three weeks with ‘no day off’.In court, the struggle continues. After six tournaments — Australian Open Wild Card Playoff, Bengaluru Challenger, Nonthaburi Challenger, Chennai Challenger, Delhi Challenger, Pune Challenger — Nagal has not won two in a row.No one suffered more than the loss against Harold Mayotte in Bengaluru. The Indian led 6-2 in the third-set tiebreaker and the finish line was in sight after three hours. He had saved two match points and now had seven match points of his own. One by one they moved away from him. One of the missed opportunities was when Nagle misjudged a ball, expecting it to be long, only to see it take the line.Several weeks later, he has a practical approach to the season and has been beaten so far.“I think the Bangalore loss was very unfortunate. It felt really bad for a while. But then I also realized that if I’m in this position 10 times, I’m probably going to win 9 times. So I said, ‘Man, you know, take it, you can’t win ’em all. You will have matches like this because I know I have been on the other side. And every tennis player goes through it. Sometimes you win from a really bad position and then you [also] Losing from a really good position,” Nagel said.Samit’s favorite part of the season begins now – on clay. He is back at his place and academy in Germany, and the first tournament is in Zadar, Croatia, with the possibility of the French Open. Now, he is focusing on the controllables – backhand, serve, volley.“Other things I can’t really control. And if I can control those things, I’ll be a better player,” he said with the maturity of someone whose patient game is, unfortunately, matched by his patience with off-court injuries.
