Somdev Devvarman, Ramkumar Ramanathan to Miss Delhi Open
In the absense of Somdev Devvarman and Ramkumar Ramanathan, Yuki Bhambri will be the highest-ranked Indian player at the Delhi Open.
Somdev Devvarman will not defend his Delhi Open title this year as he has decided to give a miss to the $100,000 ATP Challenger event, starting February 15. (Read More in Tennis)
Not only Somdev but promising Ramkumar Ramanathan will also skip the tournament.
"I am not playing Delhi Open this year," Somdev said.
Asked for the reason, Somdev said," There is no specific reason. Just scheduling was tougher."
Somdev has not lost a match at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association courts since the 2010 Commonwealth Games and playing at the venue could have given him a psychological boost since he is going through a rough patch. His ranking has plummeted to 186.
Ramkumar will not play since he has got a wild card for the ATP 250 event in Marseille, France in the same week.
The highest-ranked player in the tournament would be Yuki Bhambri (100) while other Indians in the singles main draw are Saketh Myneni (175) and Sanam Singh (277).
N Sriram Balaji had earned a wild card entry by winning the national championhsip last year. Vishnu Vardhan, being the finalist in that final, had got a wild card for qualifying.
The DLTA is yet to announce the other wild cards for the main draw.