Somdev Devvarman Records First ATP Tour Victory

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WASHINGTON, D.C. Former Cavalier tennis player Somdev Devvarman recorded his first career ATP Tour victory Monday by topping Taylor Dent 7-6, 2-6, 6-1 in the first round of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic at the FitzGerald Tennis Center.

With the victory, Devvarman advances to the round of 16 where he will play either third-seeded Feliciano Lopez (ranked No. 25 in the world) or qualifier Robert Kendrick. That match will be either Wednesday or Thursday.

After falling in the first round of Legg Mason the past two years, Devvarman scored the win on Monday over Dent, formerly ranked No. 21 in the world before missing over two years due to a back injury. In the first set, Devvarman went up a break at 4-3 only to be broken right back. The opening set went to a tiebreaker, which Devvarman won 7-3. Dent rallied in the second set, taking a two-break lead at 4-1 en route to winning the set 6-2 to even the match. In the final set, the players were tied 1-1 before Devvarman won the final five games of the match to take the 7-6, 2-6, 6-1 win.

Devvarman, who has amassed a 20-1 record in Futures and Challenger circuit events since turning pro in June, advanced to the Legg Mason main draw by winning three matches in the qualifying draw over the weekend. In the final round of qualifying, he defeated Go Soeda of Japan (ranked No. 118 in the world) 7-5, 7-5. Soeda handed Devvarman his only professional loss, in the quarterfinals of the Vancouver Challenger.

After being ranked No. 797 in the world when turning pro in June, Devvarman will crack the top 300 in next week’s ATP rankings. He is currently the highest ranked player in the world who has played less than 10 tournaments in the past year.