Somdev Devvarman
India’s tennis sensation Somdev Devvarman is starting to build reputation in the international arena as he stunned Marcos Baghdatis in the 2nd round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. The Indian is currently ranked 84th but once again proved ranking is a mere number by outclassing the 22nd in straight sets 7-5, 6-0. We will have to keep our fingers crossed as the cruiser takes on the Belgian Xavier Malisse in 3rd round and if he dethrones him then expect our tennis star to compete the world #1 Rafael Nadal in the quarters.
It would have been a dream comes true for Somdev to play against the two best tennis players of the era (Federer and Nadal) in less than a month. Somdev turned as a pro in 2008 and since then has turned on the heads with some remarkable performances in the battlefield. His best so far has been making to the finals of Chennai Open ATP event in 2009 and was rightly so as he dethroned the two times former champion Carlos Moya and 25th seed Ivo Karlovic. Since then his target has to been to enter the main draw in a grand slam. Hisfailure in first three grand slams only built him as a professional when he made it to the main draw of the US Open making him the only Indian after Prakash Amritraj since 2002. His success rate marched on as he made it to the 2010 French Open and got a direct entry to the US Open the same year. Somdev received standout applause for bagging gold in 2010 Asian Games as well as the Commonwealth Games.
Somdev has been little inconsistent in 2011. He missed out the golden opportunity of his wild card entry in Chennai Open by crashing out in the first round in straight sets. He rebounded by bowing out in the finals of the SA open which gained him a career best ranking #80. Somdev saved the nation from hanging in shame by winning an epic encounter against the Serbians in the absence of Novak Djokovic to make the scorecard less bleached 1-4 in the first round of the Davis Cup. On the course of building reputation Somdev still traverses a sinusoidal curve and it’s time he needs to make a move higher on a regular basis.
The athletic defensive baseline-type player with a young age, a colossal fitness and a gargantuan forehand is on the right track. He carries a cockamamie hope of an Indian winning a grand slam. He has a long way ahead but to accomplish that stupendous task he has to take the road not taken so far by any Indian and with a staggering billion support there is no room for him not to achieve the same.
Tags: BNP Paribas Open, India, Indian Tennis, Indian Wells, Marcos Baghdatis, Somdev Devvarman, Tennis, Tennis India
