Somdev Devvarman, winner of the Arjuna award — the country’s second highest sporting honour — in 2011 for his outstanding achievement in Tennis, has now awarded with Padma Shri (also Padma Shree) the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India.
Ravaged by injuries, India’s star singles player Somdev Devvarman announced his retirement from professional tennis recently, bringing an abrupt end to what was once a promising career.
Somdev Kishore Devvarman (born 13 February 1985) is a former professional Indian tennis player who hit the headlines for being the only collegiate player to have made three consecutive finals at the NCAA, winning back-to-back finals in his junior and senior years at the University of Virginia.
His best achievement so far on the ATP World Tour has been reaching the final of the Chennai Open in 2009, as a wildcard entry. In 2010, Somdev won the gold medal in the men’s singles event of XIXth Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, and he followed it up with both men’s singles and doubles gold in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
He was a member of the Indian team that won Davis Cup 2009 putting India back in the World Group after defeating hosts South Africa. He was also a member of the Indian team that won Davis Cup 2010 by defeating Brazil. He reached the career-high singles ranking of 71 (April 2011), the highest by any Indian in the ATP rankings since Leander Paes’ 73 in August 2008.
His 44–1 win-loss record in 2008 at the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship remains unmatched so far.