Plenty of tennis talk as Devvarman hosts Nagal in Chennai

There’s a lot Somdev Devvarman, Sumit Nagal’s sometimes coach, sometimes adviser, all-times friend and current host in Chennai, can relate to with the 25-year-old. Devvarman was the India singles No 1 and a career-high world No 62 before a shoulder surgery in 2012 saw his ranking plummet to the 600s. It took him only a year, however, to get back into the top 100.

Nagal was the India singles No 1, close to the top 100 and the first Indian singles pro to win a Grand Slam main draw match since Devvarman before a hip surgery in 2021 kickstarted another rankings freefall. It’s been more than a year, though, and Nagal still finds himself ranked 509.

Far from that India No 1 tag which, at the moment, isn’t too flattering anyway at a lowly 306 in a reflection of the country’s depleted singles tank that the likes of Devvarman were able to enrich despite injury setbacks.

No wonder the now-retired 37-year-old had words of caution for an upbeat Nagal positive of a “boom bam” return to court last year post surgery. “Som was the only guy who was like, ‘man, relax. You make it sound very easy. It is not going to be’,” Nagal said.

This is all part of their tennis talk across the dinner table that, Devvarman reckons, is a key ingredient of coaching, a role he’s often played for Nagal since joining his academy’s setup in Germany two years ago. Those chats have been daily and over home-cooked food as Nagal checked into Devvarman’s home ahead of this week’s ATP Challenger in Chennai. Those chats have also, in the past, touched upon the current state of Indian tennis.

“Do we discuss things that could be better overall—in the federation, in Davis Cup, with tennis in India? Of course, we do. We’re players, and we obviously have strong feelings,” Devvarman said. “We discuss it, but we don’t obsess over it. We’d rather focus on ourselves.”

That has been heightened in the past week with the two spending that much more time together. Nagal’s feeling better about his game than in the last couple of injury-troubled years. It’s showing this season so far. The former world No 122 ran Serbia’s 54th-ranked Filip Krajinovic close (4-6, 6-4, 4-6) in the first round of the ATP Tata Open Maharashtra as a wildcard, brought India to one-all against Denmark in their Davis Cup tie with a rallying singles victory and had set points against the world No 9 Holger Rune in the reverse.

(Nagal has qualified for the main draw in Chennai this week, where he faces Britain’s Ryan Peniston, the No 4 seed, in the first round on Tuesday.)

The earlier close losses are tough, but part of the process of the hard climb back up again for Nagal. “One of the main goals is for the guy to play the rest of the year injury free, and then see where you stand,” Devvarman said. “We’re trying to get him back to that 150 (ranking), and then into the top 100. He has the ability, but that’ll take a little time. And for that to happen, he needs to become a much better, more mature, a more complete player. He recognises that.”

Nagal also sees that in the man he’s sharing the roof with presently and whom he considers “like family”.

“It’s so interesting to pick his (Devvarman’s) brains on tennis and try to adapt that on court. Because what he had when he was playing, I don’t,” Nagal said.

“He was a very sharp and smart player. I’m a more explosive player. He was a guy who’d wear you down, make balls, figure out a way to beat you and work on your weakness. I’m learning that part from him.”

Like he did through last year that making a comeback from surgery is no cakewalk. Since his return in April after six months away, Nagal has made one Challenger quarter-final, losing a lot more than winning. He no longer feels “horrible on court” like he did playing through the hip issue in 2021, although the defeats and continued drip in ranking can get demoralising.

“He just has to stay patient,” Devvarman said. “Sometimes you have to just remind yourself that this is a long game. And it’s daily work, one day at a time.”

It’s not been all tennis talk between the two in Chennai, though. There’s plenty of “trash talk”— “Thank god it’s just a week”, Devvarman said of sharing the home with Nagal—apart from watching TV and games of tennis. The fun bits are when the gang—Nagal and Devvarman have common friends in the city—gets together at home in the evenings. “It’s a blast,” Devvarman said.

The differences surface when they sit in the car and browse the playlist. For Devvarman, Nagal’s music is, well, “not music”.

“That’s the problem,” Nagal said. “His music taste and my taste is sun and moon. When I listen to my music, he complains and when we listen to his, I complain.”