Many have been there, done that. Trophies won, honours collected, hopes raised. But those numbers, somehow, have not quite added up to become figures that matter. A new racquet-wielder by the name of Somdev Devvarman is said to be breathing life anew into Indian tennis — his 18th NCAA title and second in a row apparently bearing testimony to that fact — but the slate will be wiped clean once he starts his climb from the depths of the professional circuit. The pressure, says the 23-year-old, will be there, but it won’t be something he is unaccustomed to. “Our team (University of Virginia) had to face the pressure of being seeded top all the time this season, and so did I. We dealt with that by training hard during practice and the off-season. That took a lot of pressure off us. University life has been great, but I am ready to start my pro career. I’ll be carrying the most important thing I have learnt from college — the importance of work ethics,” says Somdev. “It will not be easy for me to be successful right from the word go, but hopefully over the long run I’ll find a way to get consistently good results. I’m very excited to get started. I have always played tennis because I enjoyed it and that is still my main motivation. The transition will be tough, but I will work hard. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll work harder,” he adds.Readiness may be one thing, but the constantly raised expectations that Indian tennis has reeked of for so long has to be tempered with a pinch of salt, and a remembrance of things past — Harsh Mankad and Prakash Amritraj also made waves on the US college tennis circuit a few years ago, but the reputation they have carved out for themselves on the ATP tour is nowhere close. Hironmoy Chatterjee explains why Somdev is a cut above the rest, “No one has achieved what he has. Eighteen titles is not a small matter,” says Chatterjee.“Somdev is a very good player, but he needs to develop a weapon. That will be important if he wants to rank among the world’s best,” says national selector Akhtar Ali.By defending his title, Somdev became the 13th player in the 124-year history of the championship to win consecutive crowns, and the fourth in the last 50 years. His future course of action has not been set in concrete yet, but at the moment, he plans to stay around the university area as he will have access to great facilities. “I’ll probably start playing a few Futures at the end of June. Right now, I’ll take a short break for 10 days — stay at home. No extravagant holiday has been planned, but I will just spend time with my friends,” he says. India’s next Davis Cup tie is in Romania, and it will be on clay — a surface that Devvarman has shown his prowess on. He has stayed away from the murk and mud-slinging that has enveloped the Indian team over the past few months, and expresses a hope that he will be part of the September tie.
