Music blared from the PA system, a band added a different melody and the crowd cheered raucously. There was much to be found in the name of delirium at the DLTA Centre Court on Saturday.
The excited sounds augmented Somdev Devvarman’s victory charge. The coming together of his success and the boisterous atmosphere, though, wasn’t obvious.
It was a performance worthy of producing elated noises. After going 0-3 down in the opening set, Devvarman took control of the proceedings to close out the match in 88 minutes.
The second-seeded Indian moved Donskoy around the court at will, played the percentages well and served big when required.
Another accomplished performance could see Devvarman lift the title when he plays top seed Oleksandr Nedovyesov on Sunday.
The Kazakh overcame Serb Ilija Bozoljac 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 in a thriller.
“I wasn’t playing fantastic tennis at the start of the season. Before the Davis Cup tie (against Chinese Taipei in Indore), my match sharpness was low as well. Even though I didn’t play great tennis in Indore, I found my identity on the court.”
Sanam-Saketh win Devvarman’s compatriots Sanam Singh and Saketh Myneni, though, have already won a trophy in this tournament as they defeated Thai twins Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana 7-6(5), 6-4 in the doubles final.
The Indian wildcard pair bested the first, second and fourth seeds on their way to earning $3,100 and 80 ATP points.
Though Sanam was broken in the third game of the opening set, parity was restored in the sixth. In the tiebreak, the Indian pair conceded a 5-2 lead but held its nerve to win 7-5.
The second set was relatively straightforward but Sanam failed to convert a match point at 5-2 and got broken.
Yet, a game later, Saketh had another opportunity to serve the match out.
After committing a double fault on 40-15, Saketh produced an ace to confirm victory.
The results:
Singles: Semifinals: Oleksandr Nedovyesov (Kaz) bt Ilija Bozoljac (Srb) 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3; Somdev Devvarman bt Evgeny Donskoy (Rus) 6-4, 6-2.
Doubles: Final: Sanam Singh & Saketh Myneni bt Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana (Thai) 7-6(5), 6-4.
