Nagal made his comeback in April of last year, but only made one quarter-final in Meerbusch, Germany, in August, struggling to regain his rhythm and level as his ranking plummeted. It’s been sixteen months, it’s been a while, Nagal, who is currently ranked 506, stated after his victory on Friday. Out of those 16 months, I did not play a lot either. Last year, I was getting better at tennis and feeling better about myself, but I just couldn’t get those wins.
Nagal, the last Indian singles pro to win and play in a Grand Slam main draw, had a better start to the season at the ATP 250 event in Pune (where he lost a close three-setter to world No 54 Filip Krajinovic) and the Davis Cup away tie against Denmark, where he won a match and had set points against ninth-ranked Holger Rune.
Nagal has beaten three higher-ranked players in the main draw of the home Challenger in Chennai, including fourth seed Ryan Peniston of Britain (ranked 147), Chinese Taipei’s Jason Jung (343), and Clarke (313).
\I came in here and said, hey, I’ve been playing some good tennis, Nagal explained. Tennis is all about self-assurance. And it takes time to build that, especially if you’ve been out with an injury for a long time. Today’s match (against Clarke) was probably the best I’ve played all week. I got off to a good start and maintained my intensity and gameplan throughout the game.
Somdev Devvarman, India’s former top-100 singles pro, has been able to play a full-time coaching role for Nagal in Chennai (he is also hosting Nagal in his home).
In the semi-finals on Saturday, Nagal will face Nicolas Moreno De Alboran, the 219th-ranked American who defeated the top seed in the Round of 16. Nagal last competed in a Challenger final in Buenos Aires in September 2019.
