At 27, Sumit Nagal has already lived a tennis journey that few from his farming hometown of Jhajjar, India, could have imagined. The current World No. 302 has spent his career chasing more than personal glory. He’s playing for his family, his country—and a belief.
“My goal in tennis is to do really well, so people aren’t saying that India is only good at cricket,” Nagal says. “I want to be the one who leads that.”
For an Indian farm to traveling the world
Nagal’s love for tennis began at age eight, after his father suggested he put aside the 8-10 hours of cricket he played daily. Soon, he was hitting balls at a local sports club, where a chance encounter would change everything.
At a junior event, he approached former doubles No. 1 Mahesh Bhupathi with a direct request:
Mr. Bhupathi, could you please look at my game?
Out of a few thousand hopefuls, only three children were selected to join Bhupathi’s academy, and Nagal was one of them.
“That’s the one line that changed my life,” he recalls. “If I didn’t tell him this, I would not be sitting here right now. My family didn’t have enough money to support me when I was young. I’m very proud that I did it at that age.”