I am ready to cause more damage: Nagal after outing against Federer

A bullish Sumit Nagal says he has learnt to control his inner demons and is ready to cause "more damage" on the ATP circuit after a spirited show against Roger Federer on his Grand Slam debut.

Nagal -- only the fifth Indian player to compete in the singles main draw at a Grand slam in the last two decades -- managed to take a set off the Swiss great.

The 22-year-old had been in news for wrong reasons in the past but his dream performance at the Flushing Meadows has provided a huge fillip to the game in India.

He was outside the 350-rank bracket in the beginning of the season but has taken long strides since joining Sasha Nensel and Milos Galecic in Paine, Germany.

The Indian said his new team has helped reinvent himself.

"Staying disciplined and listening to people is the change. I have a big problem that I don't listen sometimes. This is where Milos comes in. He has his own principles, who is hard to work with but he is great to work with," Nagal told PTI from New York in an exclusive interview.

Asked to elaborate what he meant by being disciplined, he said, "It's about being disciplined both on and off court. Doing the same things for three hours and doing the same thing for 90 minutes, that's the difference."
"I enjoy working with them. Understanding my game and how to play points in my favour which is going to make me better player and win more matches, that's is the most important thing about working with Sasha."
"It's been amazing. Things are going well. We are ready to do more damage and make more Grand Slam main draws."
"But things changed in the second and third, he started serving well, took the lead, he got the breaks early, I was always under pressure."
"Sometimes it is not about results but competing and that's what I did I qualifiers. On Monday everyone was sad because I could have done better. I believe I could have taken him deeper."