Somdev uncovered by ATP, targets top 50 by year end

Devvarman, the World  ATP # 108 ranked and top Indian Men's Singles player was interview by ATP. Associations of Tennis Professional, known as the ATP,  is the  professional body of Men's Tennis and conducts the management of the Tennis world wide. Check the following video where Somdev talks how he came to tennis world, the college tennis, playing for India, his inspiration and his future goals. 

Devvarman out of French Open 2010

Somdev Devvarman lost in the first round of the French Open 2010 against Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland. The match lasted almost 4 hours ( precisely 3 hour 48 minutes) and was decided in the fifth set. Marco Chiudinelli (ATP # 162), whom Somdev beat earlier at Dubai open won the match with 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 scoreline. Nonetheless, Devvarman gave solid fight till the fifth set and may have won had he kept the momentum going in the fifth set. Both the player had first serve winning percentage above 70 %, however Somdev was able to convert only 3 of the 13 breakpoints he got. Marco did better job in break point conversion, 4 out of 7. Presumably that cost dearly to Somdev. 

Though, Somdev had hit  more aces 13 to Marco's 7, his winners were 37 to Marco's 50. On other parameters both the players had similar game. The breakpoints conversion cost Somdev dearly. Thus, India's representation to Singles event at French Open  2010 in the absence of Sania Mirza ended in the first round itself. Though Somdev's ranking will jump and he may cross the 100 threshold, It's not enough for Somdev and Indian Tennis. The shorter shelf life of Singles Tennis player doesn't give Somdev so many years and opportunities and he should not missed such opportunities to better his career.

Nonetheless, Kudos to Somdev for fighting till the five sets.

Roger Federer and Rafeal Nadal starts their French Open rounds tomorrow.

Somdev qualifies for 2010 French Open Main draw

Devvarman, the numero uno Indian tennis sensation qualifies for 2010 FRENCH OPEN Grand Slam tournament. India will be represented in Men's Singles event first time since Leander Paes represented in 1997. Somdev will be participating in his 2nd Grand Slam event, the first one being the US OPEN in 2009 where he reached to 2nd round.Somdev currently ranked at ATP # 109, which is his highest career ranking so far, defeated Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in straight sets 6-4, 6-1. Somdev was rusty in the first set, Mannarino took advantage of Somdev's erratic play and broke first before Somdev level the play and was able to break at 3-3 to take the lead. Both the players won 38 points, but the Indians better server percentage (68%) made the difference. The 2nd set was cake walk for Devvarman as he broke Mannarino thrice and won the set 6-1.

Somdev's good performance at the qualifier will help him gain some valuable points to raise his ranking further up.

Somdev narrowly misses the biggest upset of his career, lost to Lleyton Hewitt

The no.1 Indian played excellent tennis in the second round against former ATP #1 and 2004 US OPEN Champion Lleyton Hewitt at ATP World Tour 250 at Houston, TX. Somdev was close to winning the match when he served for 6-5 match point in the 3rd set. The Australian no.1 player who recently underwent hip surgery held is nerve and drew his vast experience to pull out from the position and pushed the set into tie-breaker. Hewitt closed the tie-breaker with 7-2 win in the 3rd. Somdev won the first set with 6-1 score breaking Hewitt twice. It was thought that Somdev would easily beat the former US Open Champion as he doesn't seem fully fit post his hip surgery and was not at his best.

The 2nd set was complete white wash for Somdev as he was unable to held his serve and Hewitt won the set 6-0. However, The two time NCAA Singles champion came back hard in the 3rd set and gave tough Competition to Hewitt. At one point, Somdev just one serve (or one ACE) away from winning the match and thus creating the biggest upset of his career so far. Somdev entered at the US Men's Clay Court Open as Lucky Loser and won the first match against Irish qualifier NILAND, Conor in straight sets 6-4, 6-2.  Nonetheless, his second round appearance has provided good practice for the upcoming clay season, also he it will earn him 20 points and help scale the ranking chart.

Somdev Vs. Hewitt : 6-1, 0-6,-6-7(2-7)

The main Article

Grueling tour taxing Somdev physically, out of Indian Wells ATP 1000

The no.1 Indian Tennis player lost in qualifying round of the ATP 1000 tournament at Indian Wells, USA. Somdev (ATP # 121)  was seeded 9th for the event, he won the first round against  Alex, Kuznetsov of USA in three sets 6-4,3-6,6-0. He lost in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 in 2nd round against 14th seed Stefan Koubek (ATP # 132) of Austria. After the match, Somdev tweeted "He never felt this awful before ... physically". It seems the toughness of the tour is affecting Somdev's game and physical fitness. Earlier in the Davis Cup, Somdev lost his reverse single against ATP # 13 ranked Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets. Somdev mentioned in his tweets,  he need lot of improvement. The coach of Indian Davis Cup team commented he needs to add more arsenal to compete against top player, only baseline game is not enough. Somdev needs multi pronged strategy to improve his game and physical fitness. Furthermore, if the tour is taxing him lot physically, he should reduce his number of tournament and concentrated on few. We, his fan base hope he overcome this hurdle and achieve greater heights in his career and also help lift Indian tennis. The road ahead is tough and challenging but not impossible. 

Meanwhile, Som is waiting for lucky loser spot at Indian Well ATP.

Good Luck Som

Davis Cup: Somdev losses against Igor Kunitsyn, India down 2-0

India is playing against Russia in Moscow for the Davis Cup World Group finals event. Indian team includes Somdev Devvarman (ATP # 128), Rohan Boppana (ATP # 416), Sanam Singh, and the perennial doubles pair of Leaner Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. The first tie was supposed be contested between Indian #1 ranked Somdev and Igor Andreev (ATP # 38), however knee injury on Thursday ruled out Igor Andreev for the tie. Somdev played against ATP # 107 Igor Kunitsyn for the first tie and had good chance of getting first point for India. Initially he started well and won the first set 7-6 and was leading in the 2^nd set with 5-2 margin before Kunitsyn bounced back and leveled it by winning 7-6. Igor didn’t look back after that and won two consecutive sets 6-3, 6-4 and sealed the first tie for Russia. Somdev had good chance of putting India into lead in the absence of Andreev; however, Somdev was not able to take advantage of his chances. Rohan Boppana lost against Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-3. The next tie is doubles and India is favorite for the doubles as Leander and Mahesh are one of the top doubles pair in the world. However, trailing with 2-0, India's chances are almost nil unless some miracle happens. To win against Russia, India needs to win all the 3 remaining matches, which is highly unlikely. Russia was hot favorite against India, however, Indians had good opportunity as both Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev pulled out because of the Injuries.

Somdev stuns Chiudinelli enters 2nd round : Dubai Open

The Indian tennis ace Somdev defeated ATP 52 ranked M. Chiudinelli of Switzerland in the first round of Dubai Open 2010. Devvarman played impressive tennis and won the match in straight sets 6-4,7-5 in just 80 minutes. The Indian ace won 76% of the service points and played some impressive ground strokes. Somdev entered the tournament as qualifier and had played two games before the first round, the qualifying round provided good practice for the main draw. In 2nd round Somdev meets a ex top 10 ranked and 2006 Australian open runners-up Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus. Baghdatis is back after the long spell due to injury and is playing excellent tennis. Somdev needs to play is best tennis to win against the Cyprot who defeated 8th seed Simon Giles of France

Mahesh Bhupathi and his partner Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhly reached to quarter-final at Dubai Open in doubles. Indo-Pak pair of Rohan Boppana and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi will play against Paes and Dlouhly if they win in pre-quarterfinal stage. 

After Dubai Open, Somdev will play in Davis Cup for India at Moscow against Russia.