Bengaluru: Sumit Nagal sprinted to his left and unleashed a solid crosscourt backhand that forced an error from India teammate Dhakshineswar Suresh during a training session here on Wednesday. The India No. 1 responded with a clenched fist and a muted “yes” — a small celebration that spoke volumes.As the evening session slipped into dusk, the 28-year-old noticeably raised his intensity, a reassuring sign ahead of India’s Davis Cup Qualifiers Round 1 tie against the Netherlands, beginning on Saturday. It was Nagal’s second practice session since arriving in the city on Monday night, with non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal watching closely. Ranked 281 on the ATP Tour, the Haryana player had suffered a hip strain at the ATP Challenger 75 event in Nonthaburi, Thailand, last month. However, after a couple of weeks of rehabilitation, Nagal appears to be back in good shape.He began with a light warm-up alongside Suresh and the team physios, including Yash Pandey, for more than 20 minutes before moving to the centre court. Initially, relatively stationary in his groundstrokes, Nagal looked good on his volleys, serves and movement drills, gradually pushing himself in match-like situations for nearly an hour and a half. As the session wore on, his groundstrokes were crisp winners.Nagal, who achieved a career-high singles ranking of 68 in July 2024, and Suresh (ranked 465) also had the Netherlands’ Jesper de Jong (world No. 88) watching from the stands. De Jong is set to spearhead the visitors in the absence of Tallon Griekspoor (29) and Botic van de Zandschulp (67).“I’ve known Sumit for a long time. We’re good friends and have practised together before,” said De Jong. “I don’t know much about the other player (Suresh), apart from the fact that he plays college tennis in the US. We’ve watched some additional footage as well.”
