Deepak Jain>Wed, Jan 06 10 11:59 AM
Two completely different sets of fans were planning to take over the Nungambakkam stadium on Tuesday. The first, with Viking helmets and blue-yellow flags in support of Sweden's top seed Robin Soderling had rehearsed their synchronised chants to perfection, but their yells wound down to a whimper as their man crashed out in the opening round.
The second band, wearing t-shirts that spelled out S-O-M-D-E-V, gathered their strength as Somdev Devvarman, growing in confidence with every fist-pump, rallied from 5-2 down against his favoured opponent Rainer Schuettler to win 7-5 6-2.
Ranked 85, the German got a headstart with an early break, and even though the Indian broke back immediately, all signs pointed to the road ahead being littered with obstacles. When Schuettler got another break in the sixth and then increased his lead to 5-2, there was absolutely no indication of what was to follow - a run of seven consecutive games in Somdev's favour. Scheuttler lost his forehand sense, Somdev began slamming winners down the line, across the court, and everywhere but within his rival's reach.
He took the first set 7-5, a situation that was unimaginable to everyone except maybe the Indian himself just a few games ago, and right at the beginning of the second, denied Schuettler an opportunity to stage a comeback, breaking him in the first game. A lob sailing over the 33-year-old on break point, landing right on the line as he continued staring at the ball.
The double break looked like just a matter of time, considering the errors the veteran was making, and it duly arrived, with Somdev's ripping crosscourt forehand making it 4-1. The 24-year-old sealed it in the eighth game with a backhand which the German gave up on. "I kept telling myself to hit simple shots, make the points shorter. I knew I have the ability. When I was a break down in the first, I knew it was just a single break and I could come back," said Somdev. Next up for him is fourth seed Janko Tipsarevic, ranked 38th in the world and armed with a fierce serve.
Early exit for Soderling
Soderling did everything wrong in his opening set against 100th-ranked Robby Ginepri, and except for a brief period in the second, that trend continued right till the end of his 6-4 7-5 loss. He was tight on his backhand, the forehand often landed long , and Ginepri sensed his chance and poured in the aggression. "Everything went wrong today, I didn't feel comfortable at all. I haven't felt this bad on a tennis court in a long time," Soderling later said.
Rohan, Prakash lose
Stanislas Wawrinka looked determined to make his India visit last longer than the first round this year, and he did just that after a quick 6-1 6-4 victory over Indian wild card Rohan Bopanna. Prakash Amritraj also fell to the serve of American Michael Russell earlier in the day, losing 6-3 6-1 to the world No. 83.
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