Devvarman jumps 18 spots to 187 in latest ATP rankings

India’s highest ranked men’s singles player Somdev Devvarman jumped eighteen places to 187th in the latest ATP rankings, following a credible semifinal finish in the recently-concluded ATP Sarasota Challenger clay court tennis tournament, held in Florida, USA.

Somdev got the better of two higher ranked players en route to the men’s singles semifinals, where he was shown the championship exit door by American Alex Kuznetsov of USA in three sets 3-6, 6-1, 3-6.

The Indian had defeated 93rd ranked Jesse Levine of Canada in the first round before accounting for 152nd ranked German Mischa Zverev 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

Beating Levine and Zverev played a significant part in Somdev climbing up in the latest ATP rankings.

Somdev’s semifinal nemesis and eventual singles champion Alex Kuznetsov surged ninety spots to be ranked 181st.

The Indian, who went into the ATP Sarasota Challenger with an ATP ranking of 205, is on a comeback trail after a serious shoulder injury put him out of action for more than nine months in 2012.

Somdev has been regularly taking part in ATP events only since late last year. He had reached a career-high ATP ranking of 62 in July 2011.

Somdev recently locked horns with world number one Novak Djokovic in the third round of the Miami Masters and lost in straight sets to the Serb.

At the ATP Sarasota Challenger, Somdev came unstuck against the 271st ranked Kuznetsov, whom the Indian had beaten in their two earlier meetings.

He later atoned for his semifinal defeat in the men’s singles semifinals, by winning the men’s doubles crown, partnering Serbian Ilija Bozoljac, out-dueling the American pair of Steve Johnson and Bradley Klahn 6-7, 7-6, 11-9 in an intriguing clash.

Among the other Indian men’s singles players, Yuki Bhambri advanced two spots to be placed 281st.

N Sriram Balaji fell one spot to be ranked 323, while Sanam Singh moved up two spots to be placed 337th.

Vishnu Vardhan retained his last week’s ranking of 345, while Prakash Amritraj, son of legendary Vijay Amritraj, advanced two spots to be ranked 365th.

Meanwhile, Rishika Sunkara retained her 477th spot in the latest WTA rankings.

Prerna Bhambri – cousin of Ankita and Sanaa Bhambri – fell four places to be ranked 513th, while Ankita Raina slid 38 spots to be placed 524, which is surprising given the fact that she had recently won the Chennai ITF Futures.

Rutuja Bhosale fell one spot to be placed 603rd while Kyra Shroff slumped 34 places to be ranked 618.