Somdev Devvarman retires from professional tennis

Ravaged by injuries, India's star singles player Somdev Devvarman announced his retirement from professional tennis, bringing an abrupt end to what was once a promising career.

Published : Jan 01, 2017 13:44 IST , Chennai

Somdev Devvarman won gold medals at the Guangzhou Asiad and Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010.
Somdev Devvarman won gold medals at the Guangzhou Asiad and Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010.
lightbox-info

Somdev Devvarman won gold medals at the Guangzhou Asiad and Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010.

Somdev Devvarman has ushered in the New Year by calling time on his tennis career.

“Starting 2017 on a new note, retiring from pro tennis. Thanks to everyone for the love and support over the years #newyearnewbeginnings,” Devvarman tweeted on Sunday.

Since turning pro in 2008, Devvarman was India’s top singles player for most of his playing career.

He reached his highest ranking of 62 in the World in 2011, before a recurring shoulder injury threatened his career. He did come back strongly in 2013, breaking into the top-100 again, but since mid-2014 his ranking has steadily fallen.

He came into the spotlight with a breakthrough performance at the Chennai Open in 2009 when he reached the final before losing to Marin Cilic.

He made the title round at one more ATP 250 tournament, the 2011 South African Open in Johannesburg, where he fell to Kevin Anderson.

He made his Davis Cup debut at Uzbekistan in 2008, and has been the torch-bearer for the country in the competition, playing 24 matches and winning 14.

Devvarman’s most memorable victory in Cup play was against Jiri Vesely, then ranked over a 100 places above him, in the World Group play-off match against the Czech Republic in 2015.

His last tournament was in a Futures event in March 2016 in the US where he lost in the quarterfinals.

Leander Paes said one of Devvarman’s lasting impressions on Indian tennis will be the focus he brought to fitness.

Devvarman is now in Chennai, holding a training camp and working with Prajnesh Gunneswaran who lost to Jozef Kovalik in the second round of qualifying here.

“He is very focused and he brings a lot of intensity to the practice sessions,” said Prajnesh.

“He knows exactly what he wants and what he wants me to do, so it’s pretty simple; he knows what to do, I listen to it.”

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment