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| A star is born |
| Aabhas Sharma / New Delhi Jan 18, 2009, 00:40 IST |
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He has all the attributes of success, the experts say, but Somdev Devvarman must live up to his potential.
 It has been an incredible journey so far for 23-year-old Somdev Devvarman. After reaching the finals of the Chennai Open and jumping more than 900 places in the ATP rankings, Devvaraman finds himself the toast of the town — and rightly so. After all, how many times have we seen an Indian tennis player in singles reach the top 200 players in the world?
But experts believe that we have to handle him carefully and nurture the immense potential he has shown. According to former Davis Cup coach Jaidip Mukerjea, Devvarman can go places if he continues to perform like this. “From what I have seen of him, the boy moves very well on the court and has a good tennis brain.”
The “boy”, however, started playing tennis professionally back in 2002. Two years later, he moved to the US in 2004, on a tennis scholarship to the University of Virginia. It was here that he started to make a name for himself, and people started to take note of his performance. He was one of the most successful college players ever and had an amazing 44-1 record in his college playing days.
But playing at college level is a totally different ballgame from competing on the ATP Tour. So far, Devvarman has shown he has the talent and the ability to do so. His performance in Chennai is proof of that. He beat former world number one Carlos Moya, and another top-15 player, Ivo Karlovic. Former Davis Cupper Gaurav Natekar is of the opinion that Devvarman has burst onto the scene at the right time. “We haven’t had anyone doing well in singles in a long time, so it’s good that we have someone to carry the baton.”
The baton, which was last held by Leander Paes, has had many people vying for it, yet they have somehow not managed to deliver. The likes of Prakash Amritraj and Rohan Bopanna have been the flag-bearers for the past few years. But age and performances are both catching up. Bopanna is 28 now and has had decent performances in the Davis Cup. Amritraj has been doing well in the Davis Cup and is the preferred choice. But he too, hasn’t had an impact on the ATP Tour. Devvarman’s emergence gives a new hope to the Indian Davis Cup team as well. “He could be the difference between a good team and a very good team,” says Mukherjea.
Natekar, however, feels that it is essential that Devvarman doesn’t get carried away by the hype.
“He should remain focused and continue with the good work he has been doing in the last one year.”
Devvarman, soon after losing the Chennai Open, said that “I will continue to perform to the best of my ability and am happy to have given my all in front of the home crowd.”
Mukherjea, on the other hand, is confident that Devvarman will be a star in the future. He has all the attributes, according to him, and it’s just a matter of doing the right things on the court.
The next step will be to qualify for the Grand Slams. He failed to qualify for the Australian Open by losing in the second round. But the season has just started and there will be more opportunities to improve on his rankings. Mukherjea says that disappointments will come along the way. “But the main thing is not to lose heart and keep on working hard to achieve your objectives.” And, of course, it is also important not to get carried away, he adds.
It is good to have a new star to look up to in Indian tennis. Only three Indian players have so far made it into the top 100: Ramanathan Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj and Leander Paes. Its been over 10 years since an Indian won an ATP title — Paes won the Newport Open in 1998. And it’s been more than five years since India had a great run in the Davis Cup. The onus now lies on Devvarman to change all this, and write his name in history books. If recent results are to go by, he looks on course to achieve at least one of those three objectives. We will be hoping he achieves even more than that.
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