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Rising Indian sensation Sumit Nagal lifted the ATP Buenos Aires Challenger title to become the first player from his nation to triumph on South American clay. He took out local favorite Facundo Bagnis, 6-4, 6-2. “It was a grind.
I came here alone. I couldn’t have my coach(Sascha Nensel) and trainer(Milos Galecic) travelling with me, as it’s tough to travel with a coach all the time, as it costs a lot,” said Nagal. “The first match I played was 3 hours long and I had to get an IV (a test used to correct dehydration) after the match.
From there, to be holding the trophy now, I am really proud of myself and the way I pulled through,” he added. The only Indian in the draw, Nagal battled past 43 South Americans and 4 Europeans for the title. “I just went match by match.
I know South Americans are good on clay, but so am I. I am very much confident playing on this surface and have had some positive results this year on clay,” Nagal said. Breaking into the Top-150 now and ranked No.135 in the World, Nagal is gunning to break through the Top-100.
I win today, and tomorrow is the next week. I fly to Brazil tomorrow for another Challenger event. So I won’t have much time to celebrate this victory today. But that’s how life on the Tour is. I need to keep working hard, keep focusing on the right things, and keep on improving,” said Nagal.
He ended by saying, “My goal is to play all the Grand Slams next year and do well in them. I want to be playing in all the ATP Masters 1000 events, 500 events, and so on”.