Devvarman puts down defeat against Cilic to poor first serve percentage
NOT QUITE PERFECT: Somdev Devvarman serves during his 4-6, 6-7 loss to Marin Cilic in the Chennai Open final yesterday. PIC/AFP
Devvarman puts down defeat against Cilic to poor first serve percentage
Marin Cilic could have been forgiven for thinking it was a one-man final at the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium yesterday.
The stadium resonated with cheers for Somdev Devvarman. All prayers and wishes were diverted for the India No 1. But sometimes all attempts fail against the best. And Cilic was by far the best yesterday. With his 6-4, 7-6 (3) win, Cilic cinched the Chennai Open and his second ATP tour title.
Cilic is three years younger than Somdev but is a lot more experienced than the 23-year-old Indian. And it showed in his game, especially the way he had read Somdev's game before the match.
Homework
"I had seen a couple of his matches before and I knew which areas to attack. I knew he has the pace to move around both flanks and also he was aggressive coming in to the net. I had done the homework on him. So I just used whatever I knew and tried to be more aggressive in the beginning to steal the advantage," Cilic said after collecting $73,000 and 250 ranking points for his win.
Not only did the Croatian match up to Somdev's deep strokes but he also showed little nerves when he was down. "I guess I won the big points today. I served well when I had to defend break points and that was the key. He was making it difficult sometimes but I came out okay every time except for the one break of serve in the second set."
Missed opportunity
Somdev had plenty of opportunities to break in the first set. But Cilic defended three in the fifth game of the match and two more on his next service game. Missing out on those points was the turning point, according to Somdev. "I wasted a million break points in the first set and that's never a good thing. It was just one of those days. I just couldn't win a point and he was big with his serve every time," Somdev said.
Somdev is now expected to move up the rankings to around the 160 mark. That's a big leap but he admits there's a lot of room for improvement after his sub-par performance. "I think my first serve percentage today were really below expectations. I double-faulted to give him the first set. So serving was definitely a letdown."
For Somdev and his legion of fans, the Chennai dream ended abruptly. While it won't improve their mood, there is solace in the fact that the better man did win.
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