Somdev Devvarman: the journey so far

Somdev Devvarman, who became a professional tennis player in 2008, has achieved quite a lot in a relatively short period of time. Starting off as just another nine year old boy with a tennis racquet in the tennis courts of Chennai, Somdev has grown leap and bounds in the recent years. While studying in the University of Virginia, Somdev created history by becoming the only collegiate player to have played in three consecutive finals at the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Tennis Championship. He won two back to back finals in his junior and senior years respectively, setting a 44-1 win-loss record in 2008.

The University of Virginia retired his jersey in 2009, as a mark of respect to the young Indian boy from Tripura.

To become a champion at the college level with record smashing statistics in a country like the United States of America where sports are taken seriously, is no ordinary feat, and a lot was expected from Somdev when he turned pro. But he has not been able to make a big impact during his short stint in professional tennis. However, it will be unfair to say that he has not impressed because he has managed to produce beautiful tennis quite often and he is impressive when he does that. He shocked everyone when he defeated a much higher ranked and former French Open champion Carlos Moya at the Chennai Open in 2009.

He has been able to pull off similar shocks, be it Ivo Karlovic in 2009 (then World No 25) , Marcos Baghdatis in 2011 (then World No 22) or Alexandr Dolgopolov (World No 25) this year, showing that he indeed has the ability to beat the top ranked players.

Somdev, undoubtedly, is a world class player. He has the big match temperament and does not lose his nerves while battling against higher ranked players. He may not have a big serve, but he does have good placement while serving, which pretty much makes up for his slower service. He can play a wide range of shots, both with the forehand and the backhand, which is a must for a player to do well. All in all, he has more or less a good package of technical abilities.

Despite having the above abilities, Somdev lacks consistency and that is the main reason he has not been able to break into the top league of players. Having beaten top level players on multiple occasions, one expects him to do consistently well, move up the rankings and ultimately reach the top level everyone aspires for. Unfortunately, that has not been the case with Somdev.

Somdev also has had his share of injuries, the latest being his shoulder injury, which kept him from tennis for almost a year. His recurring injuries may also have played a hand in his inconsistency, but then, injuries are professional hazards for a sportsman and he also must deal with it like every other sportsman does.

However, there’s no denying the fact that Somdev, in his short span of career, has done a remarkale service for India. Winning gold medals in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and then again in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou and leading the charge in the Davis Cup, apart from representing the country in various international events, the Arjuna Awardee certainly has brought glory to the nation.

But from a player of his calibre, we expect more and rightly so because he has the right ingredients to perform better, to rub shoulders with the top players, to be in the league of the extraordinary gentlemen. We certainly don’t want him to be remembered as ‘the best college level player ever’ because he is much better than that. It’s about time he started delivering more.