Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal is playing against one of the all-time greats of the sport, Roger Federer, in the first round of the US Open on Tuesday.
The match ended at 4-6, 6-1,6-2, 6-4.
Nagal put up a spirited performance to take the first set of the match against an error-prone Federer. However, 20-time Grand Slam champion came back to win the next three sets.
“Roger Federer is the god of tennis and it was Sumit’s dream to play against him,” Nagal’s father Suresh told Indian Express ahead of the match.
The 22-year-old is only the fifth Indian male player to feature in a Grand Slam singles main draw in this decade and is currently ranked 190 in the world.
Somdev Devvarman, Yuki Bhambri, Saketh Myneni and Prajnesh Gunneswaran are the only ones who played at singles Majors between 2010 and present, according to PTI.
Ahead of his first-round clash with Federer, Nagal told PTI, “It’s probably the best thing that could have happened. I was hoping I get to play Roger someday. He is God of tennis, so yeah I am looking forward to it.”
Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli said he would be cheering for Nagal through the match.
India’s Davis Cup captain Mahesh Bhupathi said the Grand Slam debut is a career-defining moment for the 22-year-old from Jhajjar.
“Sumit has been unlucky with injuries and has worked very hard to get back to this level. Playing Roger at the US open at night is every qualifiers dream and nightmare and I think this experience will both be a confidence booster and a career-defining moment for him,” Bhupathi told PTI.
Nagal was picked by Bhupathi for his academy during a selection round in Delhi two years ago.
“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,” Nagal told atptour.com.
Nagal was among the only three picked among the thousands who tried out.
He is on the ascent, having reached semi-finals in five of seven Challengers he’s played since May.
Two years ago, he had partnered with Ly Hoang Nam to win the 2015 Wimbledon Boys Doubles title.
“I play for my family. We don’t have a tennis family. It’s just very, very random. When I won junior Wimbledon - in doubles - you should have seen the tears in my parents’ eyes. I play for them and my country. I’m very proud playing for India. My goal in tennis is to do really well. Not just being 80 or 90 in the world. So people aren’t saying that India is only good at cricket. People don’t say it’s an amazing tennis country anymore and I want to be the one that leads that,” he told Express.
Nagal and Prajnesh Gunneswaran’s presence at the US Open made it the first year since 1998 that India had two players in the main draw of a Grand Slam.
Prajnesh lost to Cincinnati Masters winner and world number five Russian Daniil Medvedev in straight sets on Monday night.
(With PTI inputs)