Sumit Nagal capped a near-perfect week at the ATP Challenger Chennai on Sunday by beating top-seeded Luca Nardi 6-1, 6-4 to clinch his fifth Challenger title. The top-100 ranking that awaits him on Monday is, safe to say, a fitting culmination to several months of injury setbacks, a quiet recovery trail, and a hopeful resurgence from the steep drop in rankings.

The soon-to-be World No. 98 had reached the semi-finals in Chennai last year after battling through the qualifying rounds but has now emerged as the last man standing without dropping a single set all week. Nagal was naturally overcome by emotions after converting the championship point, with the thunderous Chennai crowd cheering on its resilient countryman.

Sumit Nagal sat down with the press after his victory and spoke at length about what it meant to him.

Excerpts from the press conference:

Can you talk about your emotions right now?

Very emotional, every tennis player’s dream is to be at least top 100. To win this match in front of the home crowd in your own country, I don’t think I could have asked for a better place. It’s been a very tough past few years, with being ranked 500, not having financial support, and lots of ups and downs so I’m happy I found a way to push every single day and give myself a chance to be here.

Last year being top 500 not playing much and now being top 100, touchwood I’ve stayed healthy, I have been fortunate enough to play almost a whole schedule. And that’s all I ask because I know if I can give myself a chance to keep playing, I can play at a very high level.

We saw that you ran over to your team and were very emotional. Can you talk about that moment?

Everyone was crying. So like I said, a lot of emotions today. Everyone’s happy. We have all worked very hard to be here, to give ourselves this chance. So, yeah, there was less word, more tears. It was wonderful. I’ve never seen such a big crowd in a Challenger in my life in India. I am very thankful to them. I’m very thankful to all the people who have been supporting me for the past years. Thankful to my sponsors, and thankful to my friends. Without them, it’ll be a very lonely journey and tennis is already a very lonely sport. So I’m happy that I have these people behind me.

What do you think this win means for the country at large?

It’s a proud feeling having so many people behind it. Playing for such a big country. Would love to see more people playing the slams, but I hope this win can push more people to pursue singles careers as well.

Do you think there is a possibility of having a full entourage in the near future?

Yeah, I mean, that’s the goal. It costs a lot to have two, or three people involved with you. You’re talking about maybe if you want to travel with two or three, you are talking about maybe more than two CRs, two-and-a-half CRs. That’s a big, big money. As of now, I don’t have that luxury. But if I keep performing well, I hope one day I can do that. Yeah, of course. I mean, the goal is to always do well in slams, you know, that’s where the biggest prize is.

Can you talk about the people you’ve been working with?

With Nensel Academy, I’ve been working since 2018. Sascha Nensel is my coach. Milos Galecic, a trainer from Serbia who’s part of the academy. Worked many, many years with Somdev (Devvarman) as well. And then Somdev comes in and I travel with them a few weeks here and there. I have a mental trainer who lives in America. Her name is Cynthia. So they’ve been around with me for the past 2018, 18 ends, and I enjoy working with them. They’re very nice people and they always believed in me, even though when I was ranked 600, 550.

What do you feel has been the difference between you in coming in as a qualifier last year to now playing as a seed and eventually winning it all?

When I came as a qualifier at that time, to be very honest, I was very happy to even qualify, to even win one round, to even win the second round. By the time I reached the semifinal, I was so emotionally dead because I had not made the semis in years because of not playing much, coming back, getting injured, coming back, getting injured. So, yeah, last year’s approach was just to play, just to be there, just to be out on the tennis court and take it match by match.

Can you talk about 2022 and your mindset through the injury setback?

2022 Summer was probably the worst time because I had just started playing tennis again after six months off. Played three tournaments and I got injured again, which put me another two, or three months out. And that was one of my hardest, hardest times. Very dark, doubting yourself, asking, why me? Why me? And I felt like I made a switch in September, and October, saying, I need to stop playing the victim. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen, but I need to stop asking why me and why not me.

Where do you put this win in your list of career highlights?

I don’t think I’ll ever forget winning a tournament without losing a set. That’s a big, big achievement for me, I would say. Like I said, you know, like I told you, it’s very emotional. You know, I don’t think you’ll ever forget this week. This week, Roger Federer’s match, playing the Olympics. These are the moments you’ll always remember in your life.

I see that you have quite a bit of body art. Do you think you will get 61 inked as well if you breach the No. 61 ranking?

I will do it. It’s my promise to myself. (smiles)