2015 in Indian tennis: A look at how the top stars fared
The 2015 tennis season ended a while ago, with both the WTA and ATP tours coming to a close with their year-ending finals held in Singapore and London respectively. Indian players in particular found immense success on court this year
Here is a look at how the year unfolded for the top players in Indian tennis.
Doubles stars shine
Three of India’s leading stars – Sania Mirza, Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna enjoyed good seasons in 2015.
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis established their supremacy over the others in women’s doubles with stunning results in 2015.
The duo won titles at the Wimbledon and the US Open this year, finishing with the title at the year-ending WTA Finals this year among a series of other titles.
Mirza also won a title with former partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the USA in the beginning of 2015.
This year, the Indian has enjoyed her best season yet, winning the first Grand Slam of her career and ultimately progressing to the top rank.
She is yet to be unseated from the top.
17-time Grand Slam winner Leander Paes did not have as good a year as he would have liked in the men’s doubles.
He was unable to find a stable partner for the year and had to keep changing partners throughout the season. His charm at the net wasn't to be wasted, though, as he notched three grand slam wins in mixed doubles with Martina Hingis, missing out on the title at the French Open.
Both Paes and Hingis are yet to win it and will look to complete the grand slam next year.
Rohan Bopanna started the year with Daniel Nestor. Though they won two titles, the partnership did not last long as they decided to part ways early in the season. As a result, Bopanna paired up with Romanian ace Florin Mergea from the clay court swing.
The pair made a mark at most of the events that they played. Despite not starting their partnership at the beginning of the year, the duo managed to secure a spot at the ATP World Tour Finals, albeit as the eighth team.
They managed some good wins in the round robin and knockout stages, but went down in the finals to the top pair of Jean Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau.
Singles players improve
From being ranked as low as 414 in February to cracking the top 100, Yuki Bhambri had an eventful 2015.
Bhambri started the year with a main draw appearance at the Australian Open, where he went down to Andy Murray in three sets. This remains his only main draw appearance at a grand slam to date.
His season progressed with some decent performances on the Challenger tour. In the months following the Championships, Bhambri managed to win a few titles and recorded some impressive results in Challenger tournaments, and these results paved the way for his entry into the top 100.
He peaked at no.88, but has since dropped a handful of places, currently ranked no. 93.
After retiring in his last singles match at Hua Hin, Bhambri could not recover on time to take part in the Aircel Chennai Open and has since withdrawn. In 2016, he will face his toughest test yet, when he looks to make the transition to the ATP Tour.
Somdev Devvarman started his year ranked in the 130s and has ended it close to 180.
Barring two Challenger titles at New Delhi and Winnetka, Illiinois, Devvarman has had a rather uninteresting year. He did not qualify for any of the Grand Slams, with his sole win at a Grand Slam qualifying coming at the French Open. His last appearance at a main draw was in in 2014 at Wimbledon and his last win at a grand slam was in 2013 at the US Open.
With dietary changes and hiring of a new coach, Devvarman looks for a reversal in his form. He has hired his friend and former player from Greece, Theodoros Angelinos as his coach. Many would look forward to a better year in 2016 for the thirty-year-old former world no.62
Apart from Yuki Bhambri, who clearly led the singles players in terms of results, it was Saketh Myneni who managed to grab attention.
The 28 year old played some extraordinary tennis in the last few months of 2015 to grab a few titles and runner-up finishes on the Challenger tour.
He won his second career title at the Ho Chi Minh City Challenger in October, in addition to doubles titles at Izmir and Bangalore with Divij Sharan and Sanam Singh respectively.
He also rose to career high rankings in both doubles and singles, with highs of 118 and 166 respectively
As a result of the singles rise, he has now overtaken Devvarman to become India’s second-highest ranked player. During the off-season, he participated in the Champions Tennis League, bagging the Most Valuable Player award for the second year running.
Purav Raja finishes the year in top 100
Purav Raja played for most of the season with Fabrice Martin of France.
The pair had decent results including a Challenger title win and a runner-up finish at Zagreb, an ATP 250 event, where they lost to Marin Draganja and Henri Kontinen. Raja once again qualified for The Championships, this time with the Frenchman.
After a series of decent performances at the Challengers level, he has ended the year at No.93.
Raja’s one time partner Divij Sharan did not enjoy a year as good as his, but he managed two Challenger titles and a couple of runner-up finishes. He is now ranked at no.134.
All in all, India’s doubles tennis was the standout of the season and brought the country some of its biggest laurels and best results it has ever seen.