Match preview: Federer vs Devvarman, 2nd Round, Roland Garros

2nd Round Match between Somdev Devvarman (IND) and Roger Federer (SUI)

The only previous meeting between Roger Federer and Somdev Devvarman came in the Dubai Open in 2011. Back then, Devvarman was ranked somewhere in the 80s (give or take 10 spots) and had just finished 2^nd best at the ATP 250 tournament in Johannesburg, losing a 3 setter to Kevin Anderson. An upset was never on the cards, even for the most imaginative person. But the cool, unruffled manner in which Federer sailed through, despite having a strictly ordinary day on serve, just threw light on the chasm that Indian tennis players have to overcome in order to even bother the upper echelons of professional singles tennis.

Tomorrow, they are set to meet again in the 2^nd Round at Roland Garros. And for Devvarman, the situation is even tougher than that match in Dubai. He is currently ranked 188^th in the world (he was 664^th at the start of the season) and has a 9-7 record this year. He has not had much success on the Challenger circuit either. He has had to battle through the qualification tournament to even get a place in the main draw.

To his credit though, he did play a good first round match, defeating an opponent a few places above him in the rankings in straight sets. This shows that he is certainly worthy of a bit more than what his current rankings may suggest. But playing against Federer is, of course, a different ball game altogether.

Because firstly, Federer is least likely to be upset early on in a major tournament. He is very nearly incapable of such a debacle. Secondly, Federer likes these kinds of matches, where he comes up against someone who idolises him. He plays the role of a professor perfectly, giving out wonderful instructions to the youngsters.Thirdly, and most importantly, in the context of this match, Devvarman doesn’t have any weapons to hurt the Swiss. Off late, those with the ability to serve big and hit even bigger have posed some problems to Federer. Berdych, Tsonga, Soderling and Del Potro have done it successfully at the Grand Slam level, while others like Isner and Benneteau have done it on the tour. But Devvarman’s ‘counter-punching from the baseline’ style of play will not worry Federer.

Such is the unevenness of this encounter – Federer is vastly superior to Devvarman on each and every tennis front (and on Twitter: Federer in 1 week has amassed 200,000+ followers, ten times as many as Devvarman has over many years) – that the only positive for Devvarman going into this match will be the fact that he does not have anything to lose.

Hopefully, this will bring out a good fight from the Indian, even if it is only to be a tiny little thorn in the flesh of the Swiss. Federer will surely pick it out and move along, but it will sting him and may cause him to flinch, if only ephemerally.

Federer should win in straight sets. Anything short of that will be a victory for Devvarman.