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| Human Interest | |
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Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | Charlottesville, VA, USA |
| Higher education | Sociology - University of Virginia: Charlottesville, VA, USA |
General Interest | |
| Hobbies | Listening to blues music and playing the acoustic guitar. (somdev.com, 25 Jun 2012) |
| Injuries | He suffered a shoulder injury in the second half of the 2011 season that caused his world ranking to drop. (thehindu.com, 26 Dec 2011) |
| Memorable sporting achievement | Winning a gold medal in the men's singles competition at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. (Athlete, 13 Nov 2010) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Why this sport? | He loved sports and tennis appealed to him. |
General Interest | |
| Most influential person in career | Gandhi. (Athlete, 13 Nov 2010) |
| Hero / Idol | Swiss tennis player Roger Federer. (worldofindiantennis.blogspot.com, 04 Oct 2007) |
| Ambitions | Ranking in the top 50 and qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics. (thehindu.com, 26 Dec 2011) |
| Awards and honours | In February 2011, he was named Sports Person of the Year with Sachin Tendulkar in the Sports Illustrated India Annual Awards in Bangalore. (atpworldtour.com, 25 Jun 2012) September 2011, he was presented with the Arjuna Award by the Indian Sports Minister, he was the first tennis player to be honoured since Sania Mirza in 2004. (atpworldtour.com, 25 Jun 2012) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Name of coach | Scott McCain |
| Handedness | Right |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | He started playing tennis at age nine in Chennai, India. |
International Debut | |
| Year | 2008 |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Athlete |
| Languages | Hindi, English |
General Interest | |
| Nicknames | Buji. somdev.com, 25 Jun 2012 |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Coach from which country? | United States |
General Interest | |
| Other information | RISE TO FAME He was born in Assam, a state in east-India. After moving to Chennai at an early age he started playing tennis. He attended a local high school before moving to the United States to attend the University of Virginia. After finishing runner-up in 2006 he won the next two NCAA Men's Tennis Championships singles titles in back-to-back seasons, defeating John Isner in 2007 and J.P. Smith in 2008. After this he reached his first ATP tour final in 2009 at the Chennai Open, beating Carlos Moya of Spain and Croatia's Ivo Karlovic along the way. He eventually lost to another Croatian, Marin Cilic. Following this success he was selected for the Indian national Davis Cup team, completing a rapid rise to fame from his humble beginnings in India. His coach, Jacek Wolicki, said "What sets Somdev apart is his immense mental strength and his belief in never giving up. That is his main asset." (indianexpress.com, 10 Jan 2009; atpworldtour.com 13 May 2010) |