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India's Sumit Nagal has explained in detail how costs in pro tennis work after previously revealing that he only had €900 in his bank account. Nagal, 26, is ranked at No 170 in the world and is currently the highest-ranked player from his country.
Recently, Nagal - who has earned $96,230 in prize money this year - shared that he only had €900 in his account. Nagal's revelation quickly went viral in India and that ended up great for the 26-year-old, who has since landed a deal with PepsiCo-owner Gatorade and also a financial boost of around €5,700 from the DLTA (Delhi Lawn Tennis Association).
Nagal on costs in pro tennis, the challenges he faced before receiving support
"You can spend as much as you want. Firstly, you have to figure out what your budget is for a tennis coach. If you have got a little bit extra, then you get your fitness trainer involved.
Then if you have a little bit extra, then you get a physio involved. If you have a little bit extra, people travel with doctors, I'm just giving an example, so it all depends on what type of budget you have. You can spend as much as you want because there are some coaches who are going to cost you, for example, 2,000 or 3,000 euros a week.
And then, there are some coaches who are going to cost you 7,000 euros a week. So it all depends on how much you can spend. There are coaches charging over 10,000 euros a week who are coaching the top 20 players. Their coaches would charge them almost 300,000 to 400,000 dollars a year on a contract.
So it all depends on who you are, where you're living, and what is the budget you want to spend. I've been spending more than Rs 1-1.5 crore ($120,230 - $180,348) on a yearly basis," Nagal told the Times of India. After receiving financial support, Nagal can focus solely on tennis.
Over the weekend, Nagal attempted to make his second ATP main draw this year. Unfortunately for Nagal, he fell short in his bid after losing to Dominik Koepfer in the Basel qualifying first round. Nagal's lone main draw appearance of the year came in Pune at the start of the 2023 season, when he lost to Filip Krajinovic in the first round.