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With Nadal well poised to claim his 9th straight title, showing no signs of deterrence, and Djokovic eager to deny him that record and blemish his impeccable run at the Monte Carlo masters, the clay court season, already two weeks old, has begun.
With reference to Indian tennis, our players are yet to make a mark this season. With the reunion of the “New Indian Express”, there is something for Indian tennis fans to relish. Though the reunited pair of Bhupathi-Bopanna failed to win a single match at the Monte Carlo Country Club this week, we can expect more from this pair which strengthened and showed some good chemistry towards the latter half of the 2012 season after a shaky start. The other Indian Men’s doubles specialist, Leander Paes, is yet to find form. He has been juggling partners since the Australian Open due to his regular partner (Radek Stepanek) being temporarily sidelined due to injury. After Stepanek’s return to competition, we are yet to find them on the same side of the court, as they played with different partners in Monte Carlo.
Sania Mirza, the only Indian woman to linger in the top 100 doubles rankings (currently ranked 17), has had a decent run this year with two premier titles with partner Mattek-Sands. The pair failed to create an impression in other tournaments as they managed to win just two matches in those 4 tournaments. Given their chemistry on and off the court, it is difficult to neglect them from the list of potential winners of at least premier level tournaments. The pair is yet to make a deep run at the Slams since their reunion last year. Sania, who reached the women’s doubles final at Roland Garros in 2011 (with Vesnina) and went a step further to lift the mixed doubles title last year (with Bhupathi), will surely want to impress her fans this year too.
An undeniable fact is that talks on doubles precede that on singles among Indian tennis fans. But it is our singles star Somdev Devvarman who has been hitting the headlines recently. Reaching the semifinals of the 100,000 $ challenger event at Sarasota, he has once again proved that he belongs to the upper league. He has also reached the finals of the doubles competition at the same tournament. Though his rankings will not permit his entry into the Masters events in Rome and Madrid, he will, in all likelihood, feature in the qualifying draw of the French open. If he manages to maintain this form throughout the clay-court season, he can even receive a direct entry into The Championships, or at least the US Open.
Also holding aloft the Indian flag in South America is the talented Indian duo of Purav Raja and Divij Sharan. Having won a challenger tournament, reached the finals of another and semis of a few others, we could see them featuring in the doubles draw of the French Open.
As a summation, this year’s clay-court season can spring up a few pleasant surprises for Indian tennis fans with our players geared up and ready to grind the dirt.
