Eight months on, the 22-year-old is gearing up to play his maiden Grand Slam match against a certain Roger Federer in the iconic Arthur Ashe Stadium on the opening night of the US Open
At the start of the year, Sumit Nagal was ranked No. 361 in the world, coming off a forgettable 2018 season that included a sorry 12 first-round exits at ATP Challenger events.
Eight months on, the 22-year-old is gearing up to play his maiden Grand Slam match against a certain Roger Federer in the iconic Arthur Ashe Stadium on the opening night of the US Open.
The talented Indian player's surge this season has been as dramatic as steady.
It's not been a case of Nagal just turning up in New York and miraculously tasting overnight success by playing the best three qualifying matches of his life to break into tennis' biggest stage.
The Jhajjar-born Nagal has been making consistent progress this season, entering five semifinals at various Challenger tournaments between April and June and sneaking into the top 200 of the world rankings for the first time in July.
Despite being struck down by injuries this year — which have not been his friend throughout his career, anyway — something has changed for Nagal. And the world No. 190 puts it down to simply finding his love for the sport again.
"I am just enjoying being on the court," Nagal told DNA from New York. "Things go well when you wake up in the morning and look forward to going out there and grinding it out. That's exactly what I have been doing."
Digging in hard to find his mojo again took Nagal to a place he'd never been to before: the main round of an ATP 500 tournament, a level which is a couple of notches above the Challenger events. Nagal won his two qualifiers at the ATP 500 Hamburg Open late last month, earning a berth in the main draw and the right to play the experienced Richard Gasquet in the opening round. The Indian lost to the 33-year-old Frenchman, ranked 34th, 2-6 6-7(2), a result that was on expected lines. Yet, Nagal felt he belonged to the big stage.
"To be really honest, I was playing well against Gasquet and had a chance to serve for the second set at 5-3 but I failed to close it out. When I came off the court, I was sad knowing that I could have done better and that's what I tried to do at the US Open," Nagal said.
And so the Haryana boy, who trains at the Nensel Academy in Germany, landed in New York with a spring in his step. He won his first two qualifying rounds in straight sets, but looked down and out at a set and 1-4 down against Joao Menezes of Brazil in the final qualifier. "At that point, I just told myself to stop thinking about the outcome of the match and focus point by point. I started to play a little better, I was more relaxed and took some chances," Nagal said.
Nagal then pocketed six out of the next seven games to take the match to the final set, which he won 6-3 to complete the brilliant comeback.
"It's a good feeling to qualify for the same Grand Slam in which I qualified in the juniors, and both of the first Slams happened to be US Open," he said. "It feels great. I'm just loving it and enjoying every moment on the court."
And he's sure to have a blast on Monday night (Tuesday morning IST) when he walks out at Flushing Meadows' centre court in the night session to battle with 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer.
There are two ways of looking at this match-up from Nagal's view point: it's either probably the worst draw possible, for the chances of winning are minimal. Or, Nagal is one of the lucky few who will fulfil any budding tennis player's dream of playing the legendary Swiss. Nagal wishes to pick the latter.
"I think this (playing Federer) is the best thing that could've happened to me. It gives me a tremendous boost. I could not ask for anything else. I am going to take this opportunity and enjoy as much as possible," Nagal, who is backed by the Virat Kohli Foundation, said.
ORDER FPLAY
ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM
From 9.30pm: Z Diyas (KAZ) vs 2-A Barty (AUS), 1-N Djokovic (SRB) vs R Carballes Baena (ESP)
From 4.30am (Tue): 8-S Williams (USA) vs M Sharapova (RUS), 3-R Federer (SUI) vs S Nagal (IND)
LOUIS ARMSTRONG STADIUM
From 8.30pm: T Martincova (CZE) vs 3-Ka Pliskova (CZE), P Gunneswaran (IND) vs 5-D Medvedev (RUS), S Zheng (CHN) vs V Williams (USA)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Sumit Nagal")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}