Somdev Devvarman loses to John Isner

During the Citi Open Somdev Devvarman and John Isner (USA) played each other in the 3rd round of the tournament today. It was a decently contested match which ended with a score of 7-5,7-5 in Isner's favor. Both the players were rivals in college, in their last encounter Somdev beat Isner and as a result ended up clinching the 2007 NCAA Championship. Isner went on to play in the professional circuit after that loss while Somdev decided to finish off his college career by playing in his senior year, he ended up winning the 2008 NCAA Championship to become the second player to do it in back to back years.

This time around though Isner got to redeem himself in the professional circuit. Six years after their last encounter John Isner clearly ended up becoming a more refined pro, he always had more upside compared to Somdev due to his strong serve and height advantage. It was evident during the match that both the players are much improved from the past, hopefully we will end up seeing another match up between the two in the future.

All in all it was a good tournament for Somdev, he is currently playing at a Top-75 level and came short against a Top-25 Isner. The final result could have been sweeter for him but Somdev should gain a lot of confidence from his performance in this tournament and carry it into the rest of the tennis season. I will keep you updated with his endeavors going forward in the hard court season.

2013 U-16 SAFF Championship: India vs. Nepal

The Complete Game

The event took place on 7/30/13 in Nepal. It was a great match, and I want you to see for yourself the quality and the outcome of the game. I am personally pretty impressed with the talent on both of these teams. 

Somdev Devvarman upsets Alexandr Dolgopolov!!

As a continuation to yesterday's post...

Somdev Devvarman ends up beating the World No. 25 and last year's Citi Open Champion, Alexandr Dolgopolov, with a score of 6-3, 7-6. This is definitely one of the best victories Somdev accomplished to date and he did it in a very decisive fashion.

Somdev has earned around 100 ATP points so far in this tournament and this will put him closer to the Top-100 range. As I have mentioned yesterday Somdev will most likely end up playing against John Isner, they were both rivals in the NCAA tennis circuit and faced each other in the 2007 NCAA Championship. Somdev was the underdog in 2007 and he ended up upsetting Isner who was a No. 1 seed. I am sure this will be an awesome match up to watch, mainly because Isner knows Somdev's game and he will be ready for this re-match.

To Isner's credit he is much improved since his college days (as is Somdev), he is currently ranked No. 22 in the world so we can certainly consider him to be the favorite in this match up. If Somdev can muster up enough energy from his tank to beat Isner this will be an amazing run for the Indian.

Win or lose in the next match, we know for sure that Somdev is back!!! May be even as a better player...

Here is the draw for the tournament: Citi Open Draw
Here is the tournament page, you can get the live scores as the match progresses: Citi Open

Somdev Devvarman is set to get back into the Top-100

Somdev Devvarman, India's No. 1 tennis player, is about to enter back into the Top-100 world ranking. In 2012 he had shoulder surgery and had a long lay off from the tennis tour, as a result his ranking dropped and he fell way bellow the Top-100. His career high was 62 towards the middle of 2011.

His official ranking at the moment is 129 but currently he is playing in the Citi Open in Washington D.C and ended up winning through the qualifier rounds which will end up earning him 10 ATP points. Today he played against Rhyne Williams (USA, ranked 116), Somdev won the match decisively with a 7-5, 6-1 scoreline and notched himself 35 ATP points. With a total earned points during this tournament he would move into the 115 range in the world rankings. If he can muster up a win or two in this tournament he would comfortably move himself into a Top-100 spot.

Somdev has a tough player ahead of him in Alexandr Dolgopolov, who is currently ranked 25th in the world and was the champion last year at the Citi Open. The chances of Somdev winning this match going forward is low but if he can pull it off it would boost his confidence and propel him with a momentum into the US Open.

In case Somdev beats Dolgopolov his next opponent will most likely be his old college rival John Isner who is ranked 20th in the world. This tournament is a tough climb going forward but lets hope Somdev will be able to do something unimaginable for the Indian tennis fans. The match against Dolgopolov is tomorrow (July 30th) at 4:00 PM (EST). I will post an update about the outcome of the game.

Here is the tournament page, you can get the live scores as the match progresses: Citi Open