I was losing passion for the game: Somdev

A day after he announced his retirement, Somdev Devvarman severely criticised the All India Tennis Association for its lack of vision and its reluctance to do anything to help develop competitive players.

Excerpts from his media interaction.

Reasons for quitting

Certain things you can’t fake, and in tennis you can’t fake passion. That was one of my biggest strengths; one of the things that kept me going was my passion, and it kept diminishing every year.

Once I knew it was going to be difficult to stay in the top-100, then it became an easy decision.

Next step in tennis

I am not too sure, not sure whether I will be here or in the States, or be involved in player development. I have done a lot of good things, and have a few ideas. I have a good work ethic and a lot of things to offer.

Let’s see if it is actually valued at this place and if people value an honest opinion.

If I keep criticising the AITA, I won’t get a call from them!

Did you feel let-down by the AITA?

Not really. I did not expect anything from them! I always thought they were not really interested in helping or creating a system or to understand what it takes to make a professional tennis player.

I was once called for a Davis Cup tie in 2007 and was stranded at the airport! These guys are a bunch of… you know...

At that point I didn’t want to rely on unreliable people. I kept them on the side.

Happy with your career?

I am pretty happy, considering where I started. I was promising, but not that promising.

If you look at a 18- or 19-year-old who has had a similar career path as mine, you are pretty quick to write him off.

Once I went to the US, I was out of everybody’s radar. Then I came back here and was in the top-100 for a few years, and (India’s) top Davis Cup player.

So, career-wise, no regrets. I gave my best.

I was often criticised for my game. But nobody could criticise the way I fought and competed, both on and off the court.

Do you think you could have been in the top-50?

I think so. If I had done things a little different early in my career, I could have.

But it’s easy in hindsight. Everyone is going to make mistakes. It is a question of learning from it, and I think I did pretty well.

2011 would have been crucial if I had not been hurt. But I haven’t lost sleep thinking about what could have been.