Wednesday, Dec 03, 2003
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Tennis
By Nandakumar Marar
India's Somdev Dev Varman lunges for a return against Pakistan's Aisam Qureshi in the ITF Futures tournament in Mumbai on Tuesday. — Photo: Atul Kamble
The Indian junior won 6-3, 6-3 to gatecrash into the men's singles second round, notching up the biggest win of his career, and in the process, making life easier for the likes of Davis Cupper Harsh Mankad, Mustafa Ghouse and Ajay Ramaswami. All of them greeted the tired 18-year-old Somdev for whom the magnitude of this magnificent victory was yet to sink in. The funniest part about Somdev's bull run was that he did not plan it, expecting the third-seeded Pakistani ace to call the shots as has been the case in the first two Futures legs at Dehra Dun and Delhi respectively. The National Tennis Academy-trainee, expecting to feel the pain of Qureshi's blows, instead found himself doing the punching, hitting a stream of astonishing backhand winners and covering the court as if he playing on stilts. "I did not have a plan,'' admitted the Indian youngster, as fellow competitors and tennis-watchers made a beeline for him. "He is a quality player and I expected him to pick holes in my game, so just went out and began hitting.'' Somdev, a wildcard at 1142, felt positive vibes very early, breaking the 442nd-ranked Pakistani in the second game of the first set. "I thought of making a fight of it after winning the next game on serve and since I was moving well and enjoying his pace, I decided to go all the way,'' he said. From then on, the game moved to a different level with the Indian, prowling the baseline with a spring in his step, began firing backhands deep and low, directing service returns to Qureshi's bootlaces at times and took charge. The third seed, helpless in the face of such audacious onslaught, bowed out in 61 minutes. "Somdev played an excellent game,'' remarked Qureshi, winner of the first two legs, adding: "I am feeling exhausted this week after two weeks of almost daily matches. However, it has been an enjoyable Futures circuit.'' The Indian junior, playing in his 29th ITF event of the season (juniors and singles included) should have a little idea about exhaustion, though the energy he showed on court in a big match would make his labour a little easier in the two events to follow. "The two tournaments to follow will be a bit easier after this win. I am playing so many events (31 in 2003 season) because this is the first time I am travelling so much,'' said the Chennai-based Tripura-born Somdev, whose tours are funded by the All India Tennis Association. The ITF Futures third leg is sponsored by Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association. The results (Indians unless specified): Men's singles: 1-Rohan Bopanna bt Ivan Anikanov (Ukr) 6-3, 6-1; 5-Sunil Kumar Sipaeya bt Kedar Tembe 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 6-3; Murad Inoyatov (Uzb) bt Sergei Krotiouk (Rus) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1; Eduard Khan (Uzb) bt Benoit Foucher (Fra) 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2); Adrian Gavrila (Rom) bt Jaco Mathew 6-4, 6-4; 2-Harsh Mankad bt Manoj Mahadevan 6-4, 6-2; Dmitri Makayev (Kaz) bt Nitin Kirtane 7-6 (9-7), 6-2; Vinod Sridhar bt Mikhail Ledeovskikh (Rus) 6-0, 6-2; Sarvar Ikramov (Uzb) bt 6-Melvyn Op Der Heijde (Ned) 6-1, 4-0, retd.; Somdev Dev Varman bt 3-Aisam Qureshi (Pak) 6-3, 6-3.
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