Sumit Nagal | Bio | ATP Tour

Started playing tennis at age 8 while attending a local sports club.
Before that, played 8-10 hours a day of cricket as a child, but his father suggested he stop.
Father, Suresh; mother, Krishna; sister, Sakshi Shokeen.
Speaks English and Hindi.
Favourite surfaces are clay and hard.
Favourite shot is forehand and tournament is US Open.
Says his motivation is playing for his family and his country: "My goal in tennis is to do really well, so people aren't saying that India is only good at cricket. I want to be the one who leads that."
Hobbies include gaming, surfing the internet and hanging out with friends and family.
Has a passion for Japanese culture and has tattoos on his left arm of a temple, a samurai and a lotus flower: "It's their pride and attitude towards life that gives me energy."
Was selected by former doubles No. 1 Mahesh Bhupathi to his academy as a child: "I was hitting with the other kids and there was a moment where I went to Mahesh and said, 'Mr. Bhupathi, could you please look at my game?'. I knew who he was, so I grabbed his hand and asked him to look at my game. After that, it's apparently when he told my family that they're going to take me. I was one of just a few thousand people there and only three got selected. That's the one line that changed my life. 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."

(UPDATED 23 AUGUST 2024)

Earned 1st ranking point at age 16 in 2013, broke into Top 200 in 2019 and Top 100 in February 2024 by winning 5th Challenger title in Chennai, achieving career-high No. 68 in July 2024.
Made ATP Tour debut on home soil at 2018 Pune as Q and Grand Slam debut at 2019 US Open as Q (l. to 5-time champion Federer in 1R), then reached 1st ATP Tour QF at 2021 Buenos Aires.
Defeated Arnaldi in 2024 Monte-Carlo 1R as Q to become the first Indian to earn an ATP Masters 1000 win on clay.
Owns 129-106 Challenger record (6-4 in finals), picking up titles at 2017 Bangalore, 2019 Buenos Aires, 2023 Rome, 2023 Tampere, 2024 Chennai and 2024 Heilbronn.
Peaked at No. 23 in juniors in 2015 and went 88-53 in juniors with wins over future Top 10 players Berrettini, Hurkacz, Shapovalov and Tiafoe, ending junior career by winning 2015 Wimbledon boys' doubles title w/Ly.