Sumit Nagal's hip injury is genuine: Mahesh Bhupathi

Mahesh Bhupathi

India tennis stalwart Mahesh Bhupathi has come out in support of Sumit Nagal, who skipped the Davis Cup World Group 1 tie (September 18-20) in Finland.

India went down 1-3 and the All India Tennis Association (AITA) are upset that Nagal, 24, who cited a hip injury for missing this fixture, has played two Challenger events abroad (Meerbusch in Germany and Banja Luka in Bosnia & Herzegovina) recently.

However, Mahesh Bhupathi, insists that Sumit Nagal is justified in missing the Davis Cup fixture. "Sumit's hip injury is genuine. There is a good chance that he may have to go under a surgeon's knife very soon," Bhupathi told mid-day recently.

Sumit Nagal

AITA Secretary General Anil Dhupar had told PTI that appropriate action may be taken against Sumit Nagal, India's second-highest ranked singles player at 185 (Prajnesh Gunneswaran in ranked 167), after the Davis Cup fixture. "To see our player playing other tournaments and not playing Davis Cup is upsetting. We want our best players to play for the country. We are definitely going to take this matter up once we are back [from Finland]. We want him in the Davis Cup team. Let's see what appropriate action we can take," Dhupar had said.

Bhupathi, though, explained that while the Davis Cup fixture was on a hardcourt surface, Sumit played both his Challenger events on clay. "Sumit is struggling with his own demons. He is struggling to move on the hard surfaces, that's the problem. But he is playing on clay because that's what the doctor has advised. He has clearly been told that if he wants to keep playing then he should not play on hard surfaces. But clay is fine because it is softer on the joints and muscles," Bhupathi concluded.

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