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Somdev Devvarman seems set to make the most of his wild card to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The Indian played with great resolve to take the first set from Juan Martin Del Potro 7-6(3), before the Argentine pulled up with a lame wrist to hand the match to his opponent. While it was disappointing for many fans to see the abrupt end to the contest, Devvarman will be happy to gain a valuable top 10 scalp and extend his stay in Dubai.
Del Potro showed no signs of wear on his wrist at the start, as he swung freely off his ferocious forehand to break the Indian’s serve in the second game and take a 2-0 lead. Perhaps that helped settle the butterflies that were touring Devvarman’s intestines.
The Indian, who has climbed to 78th in the rankings on the strength of his performances during the recently concluded Challenger swing in India, attacked Del Potro’s backhand to break right back and get back to even terms.
In fact, Devvarman, who managed just a solitary point in the first two games, was riding a sudden burst of energy that carried him to the brink of breaking again at 15-40 in the fifth game on the Del Potro serve. But the Argentine held steady to stave off the threat, winning four points in a row to stay on serve.
The Indian was under immense pressure while serving to stay in the set at 4-5, but he kept his nerve to survive the deuce game, holding on with an ace down the middle. Del Potro responded with a thundering ace of his own to hold.
Intent on forcing a tie-break to resolve the set, Devvarman stumbled badly, making consecutive errors to surrender three set points at 0-40 in the 12th game. But somehow, the 29-year-old from Chennai dug deep and worked his way back into the game.
At 15-40, Devvarman followed a penetrating forehand to the net, before caressing a deftly placed touch volley to inform Del Potro of his resolve to make a fist of it. Soon he held serve to force the breaker.
Spurred on by a motley bunch of expatriates, Devvarman jumped to 4-0 in the tiebreak, turning the tables on his illustrious opponent from across the net. At 6-1, the Indian had five points to bag the set when he struck a crunching forehand winner that kissed the line.
The Argentine kept the set alive by taking the next two points on his own serve, but Devvarman bagged the set on the next point when Del Potro found the net with his forehand to surrender the set.
Immediately, Del Potro called the trainer on court. After a brief discussion, he strode off the court taking a medical time out. To everyone’s surprise, Del Potro returned on court only to stretch his hand in defeat as he decided to end the contest. Apparently, the wrist is still not ready for strain and to be fair, Del Potro did seem constrained off his backhand.
The Indian though will be happy to take the win and march into the second round. The 29-year-old has a great chance to keep his tournament alive, as he takes on Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri in the next round. Jaziri put on a stunning come-from-behind performance to oust Igor Sijsling 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 to advance to the second round.
