May 27 2008
Somdev Verman creates history in Tennis, wins consecutive NCAA titles!
Indian tennis star Somdev Dev Varman has written a new record in the Tennis history by winning his second consecutive National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) singles title with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over J P Smith in the final on Monday.
He is the fourth player to do so in the last 50 years and became the first Indian and only the 13th player in the US collegiate tournament’s 124-year history to win consecutive titles.
He joins a band of players including Georgia’s Mikael Pernfors (1984 and 1985) and Matias Boeker (2001 and 2002) to win consecutive NCAA singles title since the 64-player tournament format was adopted in 1977.
Dev Varman defeated the 6 feet 9 inches John Isner in last year’s final for the NCAA championships. He becomes the first player since Dennis Ralston (1963 and 1964) to win consecutive titles without winning at least one of them on his home courts. He also joins Sargin Sargsian (1995) and Benjamin Kohlloeffel (2006) as the only players to win the ITA National indoor singles championship and NCAA singles championship in the same season.
The win was his 18th career NCAA singles tournament victory, extending his record for most in the current tournament format.
“There was a little bit of a different feel this year than last year,” Dev Varman was quoted as saying on the NCAA Web site.
“Last year there was a bigger crowd and it was No 1 vs. No 2 instead of No 1 vs. an unseeded player. But that didn’t change how I prepared for the match. I was focused and played well.” He said.
The final turned out to be an easy outing for the Indian as he broke the unseeded Smith in the eighth game of the first set before serving it out 6-3. He broke Smith twice in the second set to go up 3-0 before closing out the match 6-3, 6-2.
Dev Varman ends the season with a 44-1 singles record.
The youngster, winner of the first India Abroad Award for Youth Achievement this year, ends his college career with a 158-27 career singles record, setting the school record for career victories.
“To end my career like this is very special. I wasn’t just playing for myself; I was playing for Virginia for the last time. I was playing for my teammates and my coaches too. The loss in the team tournament was so hard to take, but this was the best way to try to cheer everyone up a little bit,” he said.
