Somdev Devvarman slams AITA over Nagal row in open letter

01/18/2017

In an open letter, Somdev Devvarman has criticized the All India Tennis Association (AITA) and Secretary General Hironmoy Chatterjee for allegedly leaking the reasons for dropping Sumit Nagal to the press. Devvarman defended Nagal, who has maintained his innocenece in the entire controversy.

Nagal was sacked from the Indian Davis Cup team, which is scheduled to play New Zealand in February, due to "serious breach of discipline", PTI had reported earlier. An unnamed AITA source was quoted in the article saying that Nagal had finished the mini-bar in his hotel room during India's 2016 Davis Cup tie against Spain which resulted in the youngsters' absence from the morning practice sessions. The source also added that Nagal had brought his girlfriend along for the Spain tie, held in New Delhi, without the permission of the AITA.

Nagal had made headlines for the right reasons in 2015 when he won the junior Wimbledon doubles title. Selected for the Indian Davis Cup team, he also made an impressive debut against Spain.

Devvarman, in his letter, came out in support of the 19-year-old blaming Chatterjee for making accusations against Nagal and questioned the motive behind making the allegations public. In the letter published by the Indian Express, Devvarman, who has always been critical of the AITA, said that he wanted to expose the AITA as an incompetent tennis body and questioned the decision to drop Rohan Bopanna from the team.

"As you were openly bringing bad publicity to our young player Sumit Nagal, one has to wonder, what were you really trying to accomplish there? Were you trying to teach Sumit a lesson? Are you trying to make an example out of him? Are you trying to cover up the bad decision your selection committee made with picking only 5 players for the next Davis cup tie and leaving out our highest ranked player Rohan Bopanna? What is it you're exactly trying to accomplish is my question to you," Devvarman wrote in the letter.

Even after the 31-year-old announced his retirement earlier this month, he had expressed his displeasure of working alongside the AITA stating that the federation had no intentions of creating a good system that would help develop players. Talking about the Nagal situation, Devvarman added that the matter should have been resolved in a professional manner by the AITA representative along with the senior members of the team.

"Is Sumit Nagal perfect? Probably not! He hasn't done things perfectly by any means. But he is a good kid. He is a hard working kid and with the right guidance, he has the potential to be a fantastic player for our country. Just another reminder here that Sumit has DENIED all these allegations made against him," Devvarman added.

"Now if you truly have a problem with a 19-year-old, any sensible mature adult would sit him down in a room with some senior players, the captain and if need be the federation representative and explain to him what is acceptable and what is not. Doing so over a newspaper that's broadcasted throughout the country is hardly a way to teach a young player a lesson. Do you agree with me there? If yes, I once again ask you, what is the real point of your article by the PTI that brings in negative press to Sumit?," asked the now-retired tennis star.

Get updates! Follow us on

Somdev Devvarman

Open all