Indian No 1 Sumit Nagal created history in Finland when he won his 4th ATP Challenger Title and 2nd of the season. He became the first Indian ever to win 2 ATP Challenger singles title in Europe.
With this win he has reached at #175 in the live ATP rankings and has confirmed his spot for the US Open qualifications.
Interview conducted by Tourney Media Team
Q) Sumit Nagal. This is your 4th ATP Challenger Title, what does it mean ?
SN – Feels like I am on the right path, I have a lot of way to go but to have won 2 titles in the same year definitely I am in a good spot to climb up the rankings again.
Q) The final today was a bit of a roller coaster how will you describe it ?
SN – Yeah he is a very good player Dalibor, he is a very tricky player you don’t get to play players like him who play with high IQ level very crafty with hands always wants to give you something else on every point. In the beginning I was rushing a bit, as you can see I made a lot of errors in the first 3-4 games trying too much not respecting myself enough, the longer the match went I started getting his feet to his rhythm and I was able to control my shot selection and mindset.
Q) You won 9 games in a row to lead 6-4 4-0 how do you cope in the situation when a player comes back ?
SN – With him you know it was never over, so I knew even if I am 4-0 up it means nothing because this guy will fight he will find a way which he did, got a bit unlucky in the 5-4 game with 2 points away that could have change anywhere and I knew it was not over because me and him in a way are not a big server so we know that we have chances on the other guys serve which happen at 5-5. I refocused and I calm myself and I got back into the strategy again.
Q) Lastly what are your expectations for the rest of the season ?
SN – To stay injury free and to compete like this I will be happy if I can do that for the rest of the year.
