Devvarman draws India level with Serbia

Asian and Common wealth Games champion Somdev Devvarman overcome Janko Tipsarevic to pull India back level at 1-1 with defending title holders Serbia on the opening day of their Davis Cup World Group first round tie. Viktor Troicki, who sealed his country's triumph against France in December's 2010 final in Belgrade, put Serbia into the lead in Friday's first singles on the clay at Novi Sad. He raced into a two set lead over Rohan Bopanna, who then clawed his way back into argument to set up a cliffhanger which the Serb finally won 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3.

"It was a tough match. I came back after 2-0 and I am disappointed I couldn't manage to win," Bopanna told reporters. Devvarman then levelled the tie with a 3-0 defeat of Tipsarevic, although the Serb player dug deep, leading 4-1 in each of the opening two sets with the Indian winning 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3)."I feel for Janko because he probably didn’t have enough time to adjust from Delray Beach, where it was a lot warmer and that much easier to serve," Devvarman said."I served well, kept fighting and always believed I could win the match," he added.

Serbia, missing their best player, world number three and Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, will be represented by their strongest pairing of Ilija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic in Saturday's doubles where they come up against Bopanna and Devvarman. India suffered a major blow to their chances after Grand Slam-winning doubles pair Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi were required to withdraw due to injuries. But Devvarman was sure his team still had a chance to defeat the Serbs."We definitely believe now we can win this tie and we will go out there to give it our best shot," he said.

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Devvarman serves tennis warning

Common wealth Games and Asian Games tennis champion Somdev Devvarman of India ruined serve three times to defeat local Raven Klaasen 6-4, 6-3 Monday in a South African Open first-round clash. German Simon Greul and South African Rik de Voest were other winners as the 442,500-dollar ATP event began with three expected results at the sprawling Montecasino entertainment centre in a plush northern Johannesburg suburb. All eight seeds had the day off with number one Feliciano Lopez from Spain visiting a rhinoceros and lion park near the South African financial center and number seven Rainer Schuettler of Germany involved in a Soweto coaching clinic.



Devvarman, who struck Commonwealth gold in New Delhi last October and Asian gold in Chinese city Guangzhou the following month, always had the measure of qualifier Klaasen. The first service break gave the 25-year-old Indian the opening set before a humble crowd that watched the action in perfect circumstances on a centre court created in a car park. Another break in the second set set up Devvarman for success and a Klaasen ace when 30-15 behind in the ninth game did not avoid his opponent breaking service again and clinching an 83-minute victory. Ranked 110 in the world, 2010 South African Open quarter-finalist Devvarman is 197 places above Klaasen, who found the advantages of home support and being more used to playing in a city 1,800 metres above sea level were not enough.

A larger repertoire of strokes and greater composure in key moments were key factors for Devvarman, who helped India defeat South Africa in a 2009 Davis Cup tie that dashed the hosts' hopes of endorsement to the top-tier world group. The second round promises a much tougher assignment for the native of Assam in north-east India with number three seed Janko Tipsarevic from Serbia his likely challenger.Tipsarevic will be among seven seeds in action Tuesday when he faces Jesse Huta Galung from the Netherlands and it would be a shock if he failed to reach the last-16 phase of an event offering a 76,500-dollar first prize. Stuttgart-based Greul, who turns 30 this year, is ranked 48 places higher than Brazilian Thiago Alves and it showed as he was seldom extended en route to a 6-2, 7-5 victory.

Somdev gets wild card for Australian Open

Somdev Devvarman has been awarded a important wild card into the men's singles main draw of the Australian Open to be held in Melbourne from January 17 to 30.According to Tennis Australia, the Indian has been given a wild card in recognition of his performances in 2010. He first insolvent into the top 100 and then won singles gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi and then the Asian Games in Guangzhou against quality opposition.

Tennis Australia started giving one wild card each in men's and women's singles seven years ago. Anil Khanna, president of the Asian Tennis Federation said: " I am very happy Somdev has got the wild card. He richly deserves it." Somdev was happy about the good news. " I am keen to make compensation for my presentation in the Chennai Open," he told reporters.To be sure this is a break which has come in time for Somdev. After the highs of 2010, he began badly at the Chennai Open when he lost in the first round. Somdev did try to play down the loss but it's no secret that losing at a venue which he loves was hard to digest.

Everyone knows how hard it is to qualify for a Grand Slam and Somdev can now focus on his preparations. As one who puts in hours in training, Somdev needs to use this chance well.Some of his former coaches in Chennai who worked with him six years ago, say that Somdev should not stand three feet behind the baseline and hope to win points. But the bigger issue is one cannot run down Somdev for one first round exit at the Chennai Open. He is aware this is a big year for him as staying in the top 100 will be top precedence.