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8/11/08 8:55 AM | Ricky Dimon
Nothing about Taylor Dent and Somdev Devvarman could be more different. That fact should make for a wildly entertaining first round showdown in Washington, D.C.
Both Taylor Dent and Somdev Devvarman are surprise participants in the main draw of this week's Legg Mason Tennis Classic. That's where the similarities end.
Dent is just now coming out of semi-retirement and this will be his third match of 2008. It will also be his third match since February of 2006. Devvarman's career is just getting started and he has not had enough time since leaving the University of Virginia to get his ranking up to where he can play at the ATP level. He needed a wild card just to get into qualifying, where he promptly won three matches over the weekend.
Once ranked as high as No. 21 in the world back in August of 2005, Dent suffered recurring back problems and did not play a single ATP match over a span of exactly two years, three months, and one week. His return, a three-set loss to journeyman Cecil Mamiit, came earlier this season in a Carson, California Challenger event. Dent next played the ATP Newport in July and he encouragingly took a set off Frank Dancevic before going down in three.
Devvarman, on the other hand, is on the cusp of a meteoric rise. Hailing from India, Devvarman defeated John Isner to win the 2007 NCAA singles title and he successfully defended his title this spring. He turned pro after junior year and nobody can even begin to question that decision now. Devvarman went undefeated in his first four professional tournaments post college life, winning Futures events in Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania, and a Challenger event in Kentucky. At the end of June Devvarman was ranked barely inside the Top 800. He is now 314th.
Dent, of course, is not even ranked, but the moral victory loss to Dancevic showed he can still be competitive in ATP matches. Unfortunately for the American, Devvarman is not the kind of player you want to go up against when your game is oozing rust. He is lightning fast and can counter-punch with the best of them. Dent simply needs to fire away with his big serve and try to keep the points short by blowing his opponent off the court.
The Dent of 2005 could do that. The Dent of 2008 would do well to get a set off this newcomer.
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Taylor Dent 
Somdev Dev Varman 
Legg Mason Tennis Classic