Supported by Virat Kohli Foundation, Tennis Player Sumit Nagal set to play against Roger Federer in US Open

India’s Tennis player Sumit Nagal will play the first Grand Slam match of his career at the US Open on Tuesday. He won three qualifying matches to earn the berth in the main draw and will play against one of the best in the world, Roger Federer. The road was not at all easy for Sumit Nagal as he had to battle injuries and also had a poor 2018 season that included 12 first-round exits at ATP Challenger events.

He has broken into the top 200 rankings in the Men’s rankings for the first time with his performance this year. He currently stands at the 190th position and will be keen on improving in the near future. Not that Sumit just turned up suddenly and his performance improved.

He has been supported by Virat Kohli Foundation and its Athlete Development Program has been sponsoring Sumit’s training expenses, tournaments, nutrition and every other requirement. Sumit has worked hard in the last year and a half since when the Foundation started supporting him and went on to enter the five semi-finals of various Challenger tournaments between April and June this year.

Nagal has played before against Richard Gasquet

Sumit Nagal is not playing high-level Tennis for the first time though. He qualified for the main round of ATP 500 tournament and faced the experienced Richard Gasquet in the first round. He lost to the 33-year-old in straight sets 2-6 6-7 but Nagal felt he belonged to the big stage. When asked about his clash against Roger Federer, the Haryana born player is extremely excited and feels it was the best thing that could’ve happened to him.

“I think this (playing Federer) is the best thing that could’ve happened to me. It gives me a tremendous boost. I could not ask for anything else. I am going to take this opportunity and enjoy as much as possible,” he said while speaking DNA.

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