India's No. 1 Somdev Devvarman, who has won two gold medals at the ongoing Asian Games in Guangzhou, has gained a direct entry into the main draw of the men's singles at the ATP Aircel Chennai Open Tennis tournament to be held from January 3-9.
Somdev Devvarman pulled off one of the biggest wins of his career, upsetting world No 26 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the second round of the Serbia Open, in Belgrade, on Thursday.
Somdev Devvarman created history by becoming the first Indian to win a gold medal in the men's singles tennis event of the Asian Games after outplaying top seed and world number 44 Denis Istomin 6-1, 6-2 in the lop-sided summit clash in Guangzhou on Tuesday.
Somdev Devvarman, India's No 1 singles player, was knocked out of the ATP Atlanta Open by American qualifier Jared Donaldson on Tuesday. The 30-year-old Davis Cupper, who also entered the main draw of the event through the qualifiers, lost 1-6, 6-3, 4-6.
Somdev Devvarman could not qualify for the Wimbledon singles but that did affect his rankings as the Indian rose a rung to career-best 103 in the latest ATP list issued on Monday.
India's top ranked Davis Cupper Somdev Devvarman on Sunday said he is not under any pressure against Brazil in the Davis Cup World Group Playoff tie starting in Chennai on September 17, but would try to make full use of the home advantage.
Indian Davis Cupper Somdev Dev Varman set a new record for NCAA singles championship wins with a 14th career tournament victory. Virginia's 24-year-old Chennai-born defending champion defeated Clancy Shields of Boise State 6-4, 7-5 to attain the milestone. The second round victory was his 40th singles win of the season.
Somdev Devvarman became the first Indian player to make it to the final of Chennai Open when his fifth seeded German opponent Rainer Scheuttler withdrew from the semi-final encounter due to a wrist injury on Saturday.
Somdev Devvarman inched closer to a historic tennis gold at the Asian Games as the gritty Indian overcame a stunning second-set lapse to tame Tatsuma Ito and seal a place in the men's singles summit clash in Guangzhou, on Monday.
Somdev Devvarman learnt a good tennis lesson from Mikhail Youzhny and was outclassed 2-6, 1-6, 3-6 in the first reverse singles, resulting in India's ouster from the elite World Group of the Davis Cup tournament in Moscow on Sunday.
Somdev Devvarman stormed into the third round of the qualifying event of the French Open with a straight set thrashing of Daniel King-Turner of New Zealand in Paris on Wednesday.
A fit-again Somdev Devvarman started his Chennai Open campaign in style as he cruised past higher-ranked Czech opponent Jan Hajek in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 in only 69 minutes.
India's top singles player Somdev Devvarman was on Saturday drawn to a play a qualifier while wild cards Yuki Bhambri and Jeeven Nedunchehziyan will have to fight it out with top-100 players in their first rounds at the Aircel Chennai Open.
Somdev Devvarman's Chennai Open adventure had a disastrous end on Wednesday. He was thrashed by Janko Tipsarevic in the second round. The fourth seed from Serbia played near-flawless tennis to hand the Indian a 6-2, 6-1 pounding and advance to the last eight for the second straight year.
Somdev Devvarman asserted that the shoulder injury which kept him away from competitive tennis for eight months, will not have any impact on how he plays his game when he competes at the London Olympics.
Somdev Devvarman and Prakash Amritraj began their Australian Open qualifying campaign with contrasting wins, but it was end of the road for Yuki Bhambri in Melbourne on Wednesday.
The early exit from Chennai Open cost Somdev Devvarman 35 places as the wiry Indian dropped to 161 in the latest ATP singles ranking issued on Monday.
The Indian challenge at the 2010 Chennai Open came to an end on Saturday with Somdev Devvarman and Sanam Singh crashing out of the men's doubles in the semi-finals. The experienced pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, seeded third, had lost a day earlier.
Somdev Devvarman's tennis career has not only taken flight but is also going higher. As he puts it, he's playing better than ever!
Yuki Bhambri emerged triumphant in the contest between the country's leading tennis players, brushing aside the challenge of India No 1 Somdev Devvarman in straight sets to breeze into the final of the ATP Challenger in Chennai on Friday. Ranked 71 places below his compatriot at 174, Yiki beat the top seeded 6-2, 6-4 in an hour and 41 minutes in the semi-finals of the US $50,000 hard court event.
A week's absence from the Tour has cost Sania Mirza 16 places. The Indian tennis ace dropped out of the top-100 and finds herself placed at 113 in the singles rankings. Somdev Devvarman dropped to 122, a loss of two places.
Somdev Devvarman jumped 30 places to reach career best singles ranking of 80 in the ATP charts following his stupendous show at the SA Tennis Open, where he ended runner-up.
An ATP singles title slipped out of Somdev Devvarman's hands for the second time in his career as the Indian lost the fiercely-fought summit clash of the SA Tennis Open to local favourite Kevin Anderson in Johannesburg on Sunday.
Somdev Devvarman and Praksh Amritraj moved to the pre-quarterfinals of the $1,25,000 ATP Challenger event in Seoul, Korea after winning their respective first round matches.
Somdev Devvarman made a shocking first round exit from the ATP Challenger tennis event in Binghamton following a straight sets defeat at the hands of Sergei Bubka even as Prakash Amritraj made a brilliant comeback to advance to the next level. In the doubles event, fourth seeds Harsh Mankad and his American partner David Martin advanced to the quarter-finals after a hard-earned win over wild card pair of Laurynas Grigelis and Andrea Stoppini.
Second seed Somdev Devvarman and qualifier Yuki Bhambri advanced to the second round of the $50,000 ATP Challenger event with contrasting wins in Charlottesville.
A player cannot pull off a marathon five-setter on his own and it takes contribution from the entire team to eke out such a win, Somdev Devvarman said after winning a tough second singles match against Ti Chen.
Indian tennis star Somdev Devraman's top priority at the moment is to get back into the top 100 in ATP rankings and then go for top 70 in the next couple of months.
Somdev Devvarman has struggled at the Chennai Open after his breakthrough year in 2009 but the Indian tennis ace is determined to improve his record at his home event though he admitted that the road ahead would not be smooth.
Somdev Devvarman has drawn in-form South African Davis Cupper Kevin Anderson as his first-round opponent in the men's singles event of the US Open in New York.
Andy Murray's quest to claim his first trip to the Grand Slam winner's circle opened with an easy 7-6, 6-2 6-3 victory over India's Somdev Devvarman on Wednesday at sun-splashed Arthur Ashe Stadium.
India number one Somdev Devvarman registered the biggest win of his career, beating world No 5 Juan Martin Del Potro in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Championships, on Tuesday. The victory, though, was achieved after the Argentine retired mid-way through the contest.
Harsh Mankad reached the men's doubles finals of the USD 50,000 ATP Challenger tournament in the United States but it was curtains for Somdev Devvarman, who lost the semi-finals along with Treat Conrad Huey.
The US-based lad is hoping to carry on his fine showing at the NCAA Championships in the Mumbai Open.
Considering that he is on the tour for just over two months, and started the year ranked out of 1000, Somdev Devvarman's rise to 320 in the ATP rankings is heartening.
Somdev Devvarman qualified for the ATP LA Open with a straight set win over American Alex Bogomolov Jr. but it was all over for Prakash Amritraj, who stumbled at the final hurdle. Second seed Somdev battled for one hour and 38 minutes to score a 7-5, 6-2 win over his sixth seed rival in the third and final qualifying round.
Somdev, ranked 68th in the world, will take on Germany's Denis Gremelmayr (ranked 110), while world No 60 Sania is drawn against France's Virginie Razzano, 38 places below her in WTA chart.
India's No 1 singles player, Somdev Devvarman has drawn world No 4 Andy Murray, while Sania Mirza will face Israel's Sahar Peer in first round matches at the US Open, beginning Monday.
The victory gave the former Junior National champion a place in the semi-finals of the ONGC ITF Futures tennis tournament.
India's Somdev Devvarman and his Filipino doubles partnerTreat Conrad Huey shocked top seeded Brazilian pair of Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares in straight sets to advance to the doubles quarter-finals of the ATP Farmer's Classic in Los Angeles, USA.
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