India’s top singles player Somdev Devvarman’s decision to concentrate on ATP tour at the expense of upcoming Asian Games has come under sharp criticism from the All India Tennis Association, which termed the player’s move as “not correct”.
“It is not a correct decision and a disappointing one. Somdev said the Federation did not ask for his availability before naming the Asian Games squad. We said that since he is country’s number one player, he was expected to play. We said that at least play the team event but he was adamant,” a peeved AITA general secretary Bharat Oza said on Wednesday.
“We tried our best. But what to do, what alternative is there,” Oza sounded helpless. Somdev, who won two gold medals at last edition of the Asian Games in Gunagzhou, wants to improve his ranking as he has slipped to 143 following a prolonged poor run. Somdev will lead India’s challenge in the Davis Cup to be held from September 12-14 in Bangalore and Asian Games is set to begin in five days time after the World Group play-off tie.
“We had discussion with Anand and Zeeshan Ali (coach) and felt we have a chance in team event. We can’t do anything but the government expects the top players to play. We can’t force, we can only request. We even informed him that we will be answerable to the government, which may take objection to it.”
Participation did not make sense: Somdev
Somdev Devvarman stoutly defended his decision to skip the Asian Games, saying “it did not make any sense” playing in Incheon for three weeks at a time when he was striving hard to get back into top-100.
Somdev said that his patriotism should not be questioned on the basis of this decision since he has given his all while doing the national duty in Davis Cup. “It didn’t make sense for my professional career to play,” Somdev said from Shangahi, where he is playing in an ATP Challenger tournament.
“I have had a tough year dealing with a few injuries unfortunately. My ranking has dropped but I am starting to feel good finally. Breaking into the top 100 is hard enough and by playing a three-week tournament mid season definitely doesn’t make sense if my goal is to break back into the top 100,” the country’s top singles player said.