Somdev Devvarman and the Chennai Open
One of India’s leading tennis players, Somdev Devvarman has a strong feeling that the coming year will help him to reestablish himself as a solid contestant in the world of tennis, and he plans to prove this by his prospective
showing at the Chennai Open.
Devvarman, a medalist at the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, is no stranger to the Chennai tournament. To the contrary, he has always been a part of every edition of the event – whether as a spectator, or a participant.
The Aircel Chennai Open is the only ATP World Tour event currently held in India. It will be held at the SDAT Tennis Stadium from the 3rd of January to the 9th, 2011.
Although Devvarman lives in the US, he has always shown keen interest in home tournaments. Consequently, as a result of his achievements and form, the organizers of the event awarded him a wild card to the event. Other wild card
participants include doubles wonder Rohan Bopanna, and Yuki Bhambhri. The 25-year old player was born in Assam, but spent many years in Chennai. The 2009 Chennai final was his first ATP Tour title match, right after he turned professional.
Devvarman’s first Chennai Open was a series of feats. He reached the semifinals after defeating Carlos Moya, who had won the event twice before, and World No. 25 Ivo Karlovic. While some spectators argued that he had luck on his
side, as Rainer Schuttler dropped out of the semifinals and left Devvarman with no contest, the fact remains that his performance till the finals was exemplary. However, the finals were as far as he could get. He was unable to fight Croatian player Marin Cilic
for the title and lost the match 6-4, 7-6(3).
With these achievements, Devvarman entered the World’s Top 100 players on the ATP. This was a milestone; Devvarman is the first Indian man in eleven years to be ranked this high. He climbed the charts to World No. 94.
While he is better prepared for the 16th edition of the Chennai Open, he will still have a lot of competition to deal with. This year, the singles draw for the tournament holds five players from the World’s Top 50, and
a total of 15 from the World’s Top 100. Devvarman, however, is known to thrive under pressure. For example, he recently fought hard in an intense singles match against South Africa to bring India back into the running for the Davis Cup World Group.
Currently ranked World No. 104, Somdev Devvarman also looks at the Chennai Open as an effective warm up for the first Grand Slam of the year. It is generally a good practice to take on a smaller tournament before one of the Grand
Slams, and Devvarman seems to be taking advantage of this. He has been questioned about the Australian Open multiple times in the past few weeks, and he shows signs of quiet interest every time the topic is discussed.
In the end, the fact remains that Devvarman has the potential to make his way higher up the ATP ranking ladder. He is dedicated to the game, and has made it quite clear that he is not afraid of a fight. His performance at Chennai
will be one of the must-watch matches in January.
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