Sumit Nagal, the young player who stared Federer down for an opening set

Sumit Nagal stunned us all by taking a first set off Federer at the US Open. Dhruv Munjal assesses the phenomenon

At first it looked like one of those forehands that Roger Federer would put away in his sleep. Instead, the ball jumped mischievously and the Swiss pulled it long — one of the great shots in modern tennis made to look unattractive, even fallible. His opponent, much smaller in build — and stature — responded by turning to his camp fist clenched. A Federer fanboy blew out his cheeks in disbelief. An Indian couple, an unmissable oddity amid a sea of support for Federer, got the Tricolour out and waved it furiously.

Back home in Delhi, at the Nagal residence