Devvarman teams up with idol roddick

Dubai: Somdev Devvarman could not have imagined in his wildest dreams that one day his name would be mentioned in the same breath as his idol Andy Roddick.

The American's withdrawal from the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships may have disappointed him slightly, but India's No 1 tennis player has already made waves at the Aviation Club not only by making it to the main draw and beating Swiss World No 52 Marco Chiudinelli in the first round, but also by pushing World No 36 Marcos Baghdatis to three sets yesterday.

Having first announced his arrival by making the Chennai Open final in 2009, where he lost to current World No 9 Marin Cilic, he then went on to avenge his defeat at the Legg Mason Classic. His exploits caught the attention of top international management agency Lagardere Unlimited who signed him in January, the Indian thus joining the likes of Roddick, Fernando Gonzalez, Gael Monfils, Justine Henin and Nadia Petrova. "It's obviously great to be managed along with such great names, especially with my idol Roddick," an elated Devvarman told XPRESS.

Branded as the next Indian star to emerge after Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, the 25-year-old doesn't seem to be affected by the pressures that come with the tag. "It's actually great to be the next big Indian hope. I really enjoy being in that position," he said.

Currently ranked 143 in the world, the Indian hopes to break into the top 100 soon. "That's one of my immediate targets, but for that I have to work on my serve and be more aggressive from the baseline," he said.

Devvarman, who is coached by former US Olympic coach Scott McCain, has come off an incredibly successful college career in the US. "Beating the likes of John Isner, Kevin Anderson and Jesse Levine on way to winning the NCAA title in 2007 and 2008 really helped me develop," said the star player of Virginia University who honoured him by retiring his jersey in 2009.