Sumit Nagal is reaping the rewards of all the hard work he's done over the years, says Devvarman
Somdev Devvarman heaped praise on youngster Sumit Nagal who was drawn against tennis great Roger Federer in the opening round of this year's US Open. The 22-year old defeated Joao Menezes in the final qualifying round to seal a spot in the main draw for the first time in his career.
Sumit Nagal must be thanking his stars after sealing a tie against Swiss great and tennis legend - Roger Federer - in his maiden Grand Slam appearance at this year's US Open. The 22-year old had the perfect outing in the qualifiers as he overcame Japan's Tatsumo Ito followed by a hard-fought 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 against Joao Menezes of Brazil in the final qualifying round.Â
Former India number one, Somdev Devvarman, heaped praise on the Indian youngster as he said that Nagal is reaping the rewards for all the hard work he has put in to improve his game over the years.Â
“The situation he was in, moving up was the only way. We knew that once he gets healthy, he will be on the right path. Now he qualified and he’s going to play Roger. That’s huge for the sport in India because obviously it’s going to be televised. It’s good for Sumit Nagal. These are the kinds of experiences that he can positively relate to.
"The hard work he’s put in, he’s getting the rewards for it now. Regardless of what happens (against Federer) he should understand that the big results are ahead of him at this point in time,” Devvarman was quoted as saying by IndiaTimes.Â
Since 2018, Nagal has been under the tutelage of Sascha Nensel who has coached former world no four Nicolas Kiefer and former WTA world number nine Julia Goerges. Nagal has also worked alongside trainer Milos Galecic, who has previously worked with Devvarman.
“Milos is very professional and is a leading global expert in strength and conditioning,” Devvarman says. “He looked at what’s happened to Sumit as a good challenge for himself as well. Milos is an utter professional and he sets very high standards for the athletes. And Sumit is automatically held to a very high level of professionalism, which is something that he has lacked in the past. Now that he’s made that improvement, he’s got the results,” Devvarman added.Â
