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.
No comments:
Post a Comment