Promising India prospect Sumit Nagal, who is all set to compete at the upcoming Australian Open, on Tuesday said he was confident that he will bump into a top-10 player at the first Grand Slam of the season.
Nagal was awarded a wild card entry into the tournament but will come to know about his opponent when the draw is announced on Thursday.
In 2019, Nagal had stole limelight when he played Roger Federer on his US Open debut and took a set off the big man.
Nagar had however, lost the contest in four sets but his forehand and grit didn’t go unnoticed.
“I was talking about this with my coach last night and I have a feeling that ≤. It’s my gut feeling, let’s see what happens,” Nagal said in a virtual media conference, arranged by Sony.
Asked if playing against the best players get the best out of him, the 23-year-old said he learns from them.
“It is with lot of players that they perform better when they are up against really good players. For me, I get to learn playing them so I don’t mind playing big players, someone in top-10,” he said.
“To try and match what Federer does is very very difficult. What I learn from him is how he understands himself and how he reads the game. He will never make the same mistake twice, he’s that good,” he added.
“I could learn a lot from Thiem. I would like to play the way he plays. solid backhand, serving well, good forehand. I try to copy him a lot, he further expressed adding: “The way he (Thiem) practices, his intensity is pretty high. He makes sure that wherever he does, he does it right. He is very disciplined on court. He does not show bad behaviour in practice or matches.”