An Interview with Indian Tennis ace Divij Sharan: 'We are aiming to qualify for the US Open'
Divij Sharan of India
Divij Sharan is a 27-year old from New Delhi who is finally reaping the rewards of a long professional career in Tennis. Recently, he played his first grand slam main draw match alongside Purav Raja when the pair qualified for the event through the Roehampton draw.
Sharan also made the third round at Newport, playing with Croatian Ivo Karlovic to consolidate his place in the top 100 men in doubles. Divij is currently ranked 84th in the world and is looking to build on his early success with Purav on the doubles tour. Catching up with Anand Datla of Sportskeeda, Divij was forthright and earnest in his responses. Read on.
Divij – many congratulations to Purav and you on your first foray into a grand slam event. We were also delighted to see you notch a couple of spirited victories at the Hall of Fame Championships in Newport.
Sportskeeda: First up, please tell us a little about how the partnership with Ivo Karlovic came about at Newport.
Divij Sharan: Purav and I were playing a tournament in Braunschweig, Germany after the week at Wimbledon when we got to know that we made the cut at Bogota, Colombia. It was our first entry into a tour event together so we decided on coming back to India and getting our Colombian visa sorted. I was able to apply for my visa earlier and got my passport back on Monday morning. That gave me the opportunity to sign in on-site and try getting into one of the tour events that week.
I called up the ATP representative in Newport and told him I was looking for a partner. Ivo was looking too. So we got in touch and decided to sign in together. I travelled Monday night and got there on Tuesday. We played our first round match on Wednesday, so it was a frantic start to the week.
SK: Two sensational matches, both in tense match breakers. 11-9 in the first round and 19-17 to win in the second round. Please talk us through those matches.
DS: It was tough to start with as Ivo and I were playing together for the very first time. But we gelled better as the matches progressed.
It took us a while to realise that we had actually come back from 4-9 to win the match tiebreak 11-9 in the first round.
The match tie break in the 2nd round was also very intense where both teams kept winning points on their serves from 9 all until 17-18, when we finally won a point on their serve to win the match.
SK: Karlovic is a giant around the court. How did you adapt yourself to working with him on the court?
DS: I think both of us brought our strengths to the table. It is tough to bring about a lot of tactics and strategies when you are playing together for the first time, so we kept things simple.
As far as his build is concerned, it was only an advantage to have him on my side of the court.
SK: Can you tell us about your experiences at Wimbledon?
DS: This was my first grand slam appearance and it was all the more special because it was Wimbledon. The world’s best players were around; we were given the best treatment. Thousands of people came to watch the game. I played well and enjoyed my match.
SK: You had the match under control when you were leading 2-0. How did the match turn so suddenly?
DS: We usually play two set matches with no-ad scoring and match tie break at one set all on the tour. It was a different experience playing a best of 5 set match. The guys we played are a good team. They recently won a tour event at Bastad. (Nicholas Monroe / Simon Stadler)
In the match at Wimbledon, the energy levels shifted a bit in the 3rd set and they made a few changes in their game plan. Once they won the 3rd set, they gained confidence and were back in the match. The fifth set was pretty close where they converted their break point opportunities while we couldn’t.