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1/9/09 1:05 PM | David Cox
Somdev Devvarman's talent has long been talked about by those in the know in Indian tennis and he showed why on Thursday, thrilling his home crowd by dispatching Carlos Moya in three sets.
Devvarman's relentless attacking play left Moya reeling and afterwards the Spaniard predicted he will go far. "He is better than his ranking," he said of Devvarman. "He has a solid game and is not a typical serve-and-volley player. I think, he has the potential to break into top 100 and even top 50."
Moya edged the first set 6-4 but everyone could tell it wasn't going to be the predicted lunchtime stroll into the last 8 for the 6th seed. Maybe he underestimated Devvarman or maybe it was the searing midday heat but Moya seemed lethargic out there at times.
"I was tired and tried to force the play. I tried taking risks to shorten points, and made mistakes. I had no energy left towards the end," he said later.
Come set two, the Indian's counter-punching began to wear Moya down and as he looked to shorten the points by coming forward more, Devvarman rose to the challenge and picked him off with some scorching passes. Serving at 5-5, Moya saved 2 break points but Devvarman remained patient and forced the breakthrough to set up a 3rd set.
Devvarman himself afterwards put his success down to a much improved serve, something he's worked hard on over the past year. "A lot of my game revolves around holding my serve and putting pressure on the opponent," he explained.
It made all the difference in the final set. Moya was allowed to dictate the play but his opponent was solid as a rock. The errors came from Moya and Devvarman clinched his 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 win with an emphatic slam dunk.
Moya is a big star in India and Devvarman agreed that was in his mind while trying to finish things off. "I was aware that I was playing Carlos Moya, who I’ve watched as a kid, but I had the belief," he said.
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