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Leander Paes
Somdev’s Sanam,Mission 2018, Maradona’s showboating and Davis Cup teams
Somdev Devvarman carries the hopes of a billion on his lean, sinewy frame. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are aging warriors. They will soon be gone.
But Somdev is undaunted at the prospect of stepping into the boots of these stalwarts. He has etched his mark in the Davis Cup. The Guangzhou Asian Games saw him pick up a rich haul of three medals, two gold in singles and men’s doubles and a bronze in the team event. His singles gold at the CWG pales in comparison. The clinical manner in which the Indian demolished Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin 6-1, 6-2 augurs well for India’s Davis Cup aspirations.
Tennis Bytes: Asiad tennis,The Indian Express, Nadal and Goodwill Ambassadors
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Sania Mirza continues to delight her Indian fans. She followed up her CommonWealth Games individual silver with an Asiad bronze at Guangzhou. Mirza may be struggling with her ranking on the WTA tour but is enjoying her time in the sun post her recent marriage to Shoaib Malik and a renaissance representing India. Sania and her partner Vishnu Vardhan tamed Tamarine Tanasugarn and Sanchai Ratiwatana 6-3, 6-7 (7-3), 10-5 in the mixed doubles semis to assure the Hyderabadi of another silver—at least.
Tennis Bytes: World Tour Finals roster finalised, Bhupathi and Paes qualify for event
Never discount home advantage. Never discount serve and volley either especially on a super fast hard court.
That is the lesson Novak Djokovic will take away after his shock defeat against Frenchman Michael Llodra in the third round of the Paris Masters tourney.
This is Llodra’s second major upset in recent times. He knocked out Tomas Berdych at the 2010 US Open. This also gives the French a psychological advantage going into the Davis Cup final to be played at Belgrade from December 3 – 5, 2010.
The Fifth Slam: India Opens Her Heart To Top-Flight Tennis
The year is 2011. It is the august month of August.
The India Open is being launched with much fanfare.
The India Open is now officially the fifth Grand Slam tournament , the latest jewel in the ATP and WTA calendars.
In the wake of the unprecedented success of the Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi, this tournament has been given hallmark status.
India have thumbed their nose at the Chinese and have cornered a Grand Slam tournament.
This Slam has its unique challenges. The courts are mud and uncovered.
Play continues in the rain. Come rain or shine, play will continue.
India’s Davis Cup hopes dented by unkind draw, Serbia loom large
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India’s chances of progressing further in the Davis Cup World Group were dealt a severe blow by an unkind draw.
India have to contend with top seeds Serbia in the first round to be played in the first week of March, next year.
The Serbs have Djokovic, Tipsarevic , Troicki and Ninad Zemonjic in their ranks.
The Indians can count on Paes and Bhupathi to win their doubles rubber but the other two points will have to come from Bopanna and Somdev Devvarman.
Somdev is capable of springing a surprise but the dice are heavily loaded in the Serbians’ favour.
A Comeback Lesson In Serve And Volley
Aided by the sultry Chennai weather, the Indian Davis Cup team scripted a famous come-from-behind victory at Chennai, outplaying Brazil in both the singles matches on Sunday, the 19th of September, 2010.
This time though, the victory was achieved in a thoroughly professional manner with the entire team carrying its weight.
Rohan Bopanna and Somdev Devvarman had their say. They have reassured Indian tennis fans that the country’s Davis Cup hopes are in secure hands for the foreseeable future.
Bellucci caved in to cramps and dehydration in the morning after just a set and a half. Somdev Devvarman was left feeling a little bemused but why look a gift horse in the mouth?
Tennis, boxing, cricket and wrestling: Indian sport makes waves
India take on Brazil on Friday the 17th of September , 2010 at Chennai on hard-courts in the Davis Cup World Group playoffs.
The first day’s play features two singles matches : Thomas Bellucci versus Rohan Bopanna & Somdev Devverman versus Ricardo Mello.
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi take on Bruno Soares and Marcelo Melo on Saturday in a crucial doubles encounter.
The reverse singles will be played on Sunday.
Suffice to say, at least two singles matches will need to be clinched for India to progress to the next round.
The weight of Indian expectations rest on Somdev’s shoulders. Bopanna is not favoured to win either of his singles.
Can Somdev pull it off? The Indian tennis fraternity certainly hope so.
Somdev scores a ton
The Ton Is Here!
He’s done it! Finally!
Somdev Devvarman has cracked the top 100 on the ATP tour. Another milestone in his fledgling career.
He becomes just the second Indian male player in a decade or so to be ranked amongst the top 100. Leander Paes was the last Indian male to be ranked so, achieving that distinction in 1999.
Somdev’s rise to the list of centurions has not been meteoric; rather it has been steady but sure.
He is now ranked 96 in the world. However, he is unlikely to be perched there for too long; he was thwarted in his bid to defend last year’s accumulated points.More on that later.
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Indian men at the Grand Slams
With Somdev Devvarman qualifying for the French Open main draw – his second Grand Slam appearance after the 2009 US Open, let’s look at the best Grand Slam appearances by any Indian male player in any men’s professional singles Grand Slam.
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We’re too self-absorbed!
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What do you think?
I agree, to a large extent, that cricket, the Indian public’s passion, is not a true team sport.
Team sports are about understanding, a true choreography , a meeting of minds, hearts, souls translated into fluid motion, team action.
A similar thing could be said about tennis , specially the Indian Davis Cup team except for the doubles pair. And, mind you, team harmony does not mean that 2 players should be buddy-buddy. They just need to be civil and challenge each other to be better, to complement each other. Perhaps, that’s why we may never see another champion Davis Cup pair like Paes and Bhupathi come out of India for a long,long time.
But then, I guess, that’s why we are about genius and individual excellence. Not bad traits by themselves but then why in a population of over a billion do we have such few instances of them? Ah then, the excuses for this failing have been trotted out by our politicians for over 6 decades and hence I refuse to recount them here.
Just as we could never be another US or a Japan, but come on , China faces the same challenges as us, maybe even more! So why cannot we be the tiger we were meant to be? Our national animal is the tiger, after all!
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon can then have quite a different undertone! Quite a notion! But then nations are formed of notions, are they not?
Have a great weekend!
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Make Time For Sports. 