US Open: Somdev Devvarman lands in Andy Murray's quarter

Somdev Devvarman in action

Somdev Devvarman has landed in the second quarter of the top half at the US Open. Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych man the two ends of this quarter. The Indian is seeking a respectable result from his fifth attempt at the US Open to get himself firmly back into the top 100.

The 113th ranked player had dropped way down the rankings after missing much of last year to injury. He recovered from 733rd in the rankings last October with some impressive performances on the challenger circuit to pave his path back to the main tour. Somdev will look to build on his 12-9 record this year, when he takes on Lukas Lacko in the first round at Flushing Meadows next week.

The Slovak is ranked 85th in the world and the two have never faced each other in their careers. Lacko only has a 7-12 record on the tour this year, which must encourage the Indian. The 25 year old Slovakian defeated Alejandro Falla at Washington in July, before losing in three sets to Marcos Baghdatis in the second round.

In contrast, Somdev came through the qualifiers at Washington to plough his way through to the round of 16. The 28 year old upset Alexandr Dolgopolov in straight sets before losing a hard fought battle against John Isner. Somdev lost 5-7, 5-7 to the eventual finalist at the event.

If he gets past Lacko, Somdev would have to deal with the winner of the match between the 20th seeded Andreas Seppi and the unseeded yet dangerous Xavier Malisse. Nicolas Almagro is a likely third round opponent, should he get the farthest he has ever been at a Grand Slam event.

Somdev reached the second round of the US Open in 2009, where he lost in four sets to German Philipp Kohlschreiber. In the French Open this year, the 28 year old also made it to the second round, losing to Roger Federer in straight sets. There will be plenty of interest in India as they watch Somdev try and better himself next week at the US Open.