Marin Cilic of Croatia ended Indian wildcard Somdev Devvarman’s dream run on home soil to win the ATP Chennai Open crown on Sunday.
The lanky world No. 27 beat the 202nd-ranked Devvarman 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) in a morale-boosting victory ahead of the season’s first Grand Slam, the Australian Open, starting in Melbourne on Monday.
Cilic, 20, earned US$73,000 and 250 ATP points for his second career title after winning the New Haven final last August.
Devvarman, denied a chance to become the first Indian in more than a decade to win an ATP event, took home US$37,000 and 150 points for reaching the final in only his fifth career tournament.
“It is great to start the year with a win,” Cilic said. “I worked very hard during the off-season and it paid off for me this week.”
“I will certainly feel confident going into the Australian Open,” he said. “I don’t think I played my best tennis in the final, but did well in the crucial points which helped me to win.”
Cilic heaped praise on his unheralded 23-year-old rival, saying Devvarman had a bright future.
“Somdev is obviously a very good potential,” he said. “He has a pretty good forehand and is an aggressive player, so I knew I had to be as aggressive and keep him on the backhand as far as possible.”
Some 6,000 home fans at the jam-packed Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium cheered Devvarman’s bold effort to emulate his Davis Cup captain Leander Paes, whose win in Newport, Rhode Island, in July, 1998 was the last title triumph by an Indian.
The US-based Devvarman, born in the north-eastern state of Assam, had beaten Spanish veteran Carlos Moya in the second round and world No. 25 Ivo Karlovic in the quarter-final.
He qualified for the final after fifth-seeded Rainer Schuettler of Germany withdrew from the semi-finals with a wrist injury.
“This match was definitely a learning experience for me,” the Indian said.
“It does not feel good to come out of a loss, but I will go from here knowing I can compete with the best. There is a lot in my game I need to improve,” he said.
Cilic survived six break points in the first seven games and held on to win the first set in 52 minutes when Devvarman, down 4-5, double-faulted at 30-40 in the 10th game.
The big-serving Croat could have wrapped up the match earlier than it’s two-hour duration, but he was broken by Devvarman while serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set.
Cilic held his nerve in the tie-breaker before winning the final with a forehand winner down the line.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their