Devverman heads for the big time

Dubai: Indian tennis sensation Somdev Devverman does not feel the burden of expectation on his young shoulders as he targets a rise in his career.

"I really don't think that I have to do well only for the sake of my country. Tennis is an individual sport after all.

"Yes, India has had some of the greatest tennis players in the past like [Leander] Paes and Mahesh [Bhupathi].

"But I really don't think about the fact that I need to fill in their shoes or anything like that," Devvarman told Gulf News on Sunday after winning in three sets 3-6, 7-6, 6-1 against Belgium's Dick Norman to qualify for the main draw.

Devvarman will now meet Swiss journeyman Marco Chiudinelli in the first round of the 2010 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships today.

Devvarman started competing in Futures tournaments at the beginning of his career in 2002 while living in India.

Victory

His biggest achievement at that time was a victory in the Kolkata F2 Championship in 2004, after which he rose to No 666 in the ATP World Rankings.

The Assam lad moved to the US later that year and, while at college at the University of Virginia, he won two consecutive titles in the NCAA Singles Championships.

"Honestly, each time I go out there on court I always think about playing well and giving a good account of myself and winning.

"I never bother to think about whether I need to win for the sake of being there as a representative to fill in a void," he said.

Devvarman shot into the limelight when he went down in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (3) to Croatia's Marin Cilic in the 2009 final of the season-opening Chennai Open.

En route, the boy from Assam had beaten two-time Chennai Open winner and world number 42 Carlos Moya and 25th ranked Ivo Karlovic before getting a walkover from an injured Rainer Schuettler in the semifinals.

On his game

"I always aim to be consistent in my play and today too [against Norman] I was focused on my game. I don't think I got off to a slow start as I was hitting the ball well and playing well. I had my chances in the first set to break him, but it's tough especially when the opposite guy has such a huge serve," Devvarman said.

"He got one chance to break me in the first set and he took it. In the second we held and then he played a couple of sloppy points and I took the chances that came my way. He was a little tired in the third."