New Delhi: Somdev Dev Varman’s stellar show at the Chennai Open, where he ended runner-up, catapulted him to 154 in the latest ATP tennis rankings issued on Monday.

The Indian leapfrogged 48 places from his earlier ranking of 202. Somdev, with 562 points, continues to be India’s No. 1 singles player but the gap between him and Prakash Amritraj, who is the second-highest ranked Indian, is widening as the latter is now placed at 209, a loss of three places.

In doubles, Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes hung on to their sixth and 10th positions respectively.

Sania Mirza, who is all set to return to competitive tennis at Australian Open, was ranked 107th in the latest WTA singles rankings.

Although he has much to prove and some way to go before being considered a player of some consequence on the international stage, the feeling among India’s tennis fraternity is that Somdev possesses the grit and gumption to change the landscape of the game in the country.

Somdev downed the likes of former world No.1 Carlos Moya, big serving Ivo Karlovic of Croatia and fought valiantly with another Croat Marin Cilic in the Chennai Open.

India’s current non-playing Davis Cup captain S.P. Misra and former captain Jaidip Mukerjea have no doubt that Somdev is the ‘star’ the country needed to boost the game.

“It makes me very happy to see Somdev performing like this. He is very composed. He is a fighter and most importantly, he has the tennis brain,” Mukerjea said.

“Definitely it is good for Indian tennis. Mahesh (Bhupathi) and Leander (Paes) have played a long innings and it’s time for the youngsters to take over. His performance is a big boost to tennis in India. More boys will come up now,” he added.

Praising Somdev for his on-court attitude, Mukerjea said: “He is basically tough. He knows how to win the last point and in tennis, he wins who takes the last point.”

Misra too lauded Somdev for putting in extra hours to toughen himself for the rigours of a difficult Tour.

“People do not concentrate on their fitness but he does. He likes playing long matches and that gives him an edge. I think we have got the player we’ve been searching for years,” Misra said.

“He is a very determined and dedicated player and has the potential to take Indian tennis forward. God has given him a good game and only time will tell where he reaches from here,” he said.

Misra also predicted that very soon the two-time US collegiate champion will break into the top 100.

“He is on the right track. He need not worry. Give him time and he will mature as a player. He is going to come up well and you will soon find him in the top 100.”

RANKINGS
(Top ten)

Men: 1. (1) Rafael Nadal (Esp) 13160 points; 2. (2) Roger Federer (Sui) 10700; 3. (3) Novak Djokovic (Srb) 10590; 4.(4) Andy Murray (GBR) 7190; 5. (5) Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) 5330; 6. (7) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) 3995; 7. (6) Gilles Simon (Fra) 3960; 8. (8) Andy Roddick (US) 3940; 9. (9) Juan Martin del Potro (Arg) 3890; 10. (10) James Blake (US) 3550.
Women: 1. (1) Jelena Jankovic (Srb) 9200 points; 2. (2) Serena Williams (US) 7732; 3. (3) Dinara Safina (Rus) 7554; 4. (4) Elena Dementieva (Rus) 7326; 5. (5) Ana Ivanovic (Srb) 6732; 6. (6) Venus Williams (US) 6544; 7. (7) Vera Zvonareva (Rus) 5744; 8. (8) Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) 5072; 9. (9) Maria Sharapova (Rus) 5030; 10. (10) Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) 4472.