Somdev hopes for turnaround

Though Ivan is higher ranked than the Indian at 37 and is a former top-5 player,numbers have never bothered Somdev,and especially now. On his way to his career-best ranking of 66 this year,Somdev has beaten five top-50 players Janko Tipsarevic,Xavier Malisse,Marcos Baghdatis,Milos Raonic and Garcia Lopez however only one of these wins were on clay.

Needing good tournament practice before the Slam,his decision to skip all the three clay court Masters events at Monte-Carlo,Rome and Madrid was rather surprising. It was at Zagreb Open that he faced the worst loss of the season,losing in the first round to a player ranked out of the 200 in the world. Things didnt improve in the next clay tournament at Nice,France as well,where he went down to Adrian Mannarino,a player he had defeated earlier in the year.

Even after those losses I havent really modified anything. I stuck to the practice and training laid out for me by my coaches. Ive had a lot of good practices and Im really hitting the ball well. Just hoping I can put it all together now, he says.