Status: ATP currently ranked at #65. 2010 Asian Games gold medalist in singles and doubles.
Ht: 5-11 Wt: 160
DOB: February 13, 1985 In Assam, India
First tennis memory: “When I was young, very, very young, picked up a racquet, hit on a wall and kept hitting balls on a wall.”
Tennis inspirations: “Andre Agassi for sure was one of them. And over the past eight to ten years, it’s been Rafa, Fed.”
Last book read: “Trying to think…Chetan Bhagat. It’s an Indian book.”
Favorite meal: “Indian food.”
Favorite ice cream flavor: “Vanilla.”
Pre-match feeling: “Relaxing. Finding a way to relax.”
Favorite movie: “Good Will Hunting.”
Musical tastes: “Dave Matthews Band.”
Greatest sports moment: “Winning Asian Games gold medal for India.”
Most painful moment: “I’ve had a lot of them [smiles]. To be completely honest, losing in the NCAAs, semifinals. That was with Virginia, for the team.”
Favorite tournaments: “Chennai Open, Indian Wells, U.S. Open, Sony Ericsson Open (Key Biscayne).”
Closest tennis friends: “On Tour – Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna, Eric Butorac, Leander Paes, Trent Huey, Rik De Voest.”
Funniest player encountered: “Mariusz Fyrstenberg in the locker room. He is the funniest guy. When you see him, you just feel like laughing. He’s always making jokes, he’s always making it light in the locker room. He’s a great guy.”
Toughest competitors encountered: “Ah, Nadal, David Ferrer.”
Embarrassing tennis memory: “When I was 12 & under, I broke all my strings and didn’t have a racquet and played the rest of the match with my opponent’s racquet [smiles]. (Who won?) Actually, he won it. I felt a little bit bad using his racquet and trying to beat him [smiles]. He was way better than me, he beat me.”
Funny tennis memory: “Once we were playing this guy in doubles and I hit him in the nuts and felt pretty bad and he took five minutes off. And he came back and the very next point, we hit him in the nuts again [laughs]. This was in college and yeah, he just went down, this time for a good 15 (minutes) [smiles].”
Favorite players to watch: “I like watching Rafa and Roger. (Any players outside the elite?) Well, Roddick is one of my favorites. I really like watching my friends play. I really like watching Gilles Simon. I used to really like watching Sebastien Grosjean. I like watching Hewitt a lot. David Nalbandian is just so pretty to watch.”
Favorite sport outside tennis: “Cricket, soccer.”
Strangest match: “I lost a match 60 06 06. That was pretty strange [smiles]. In 18 & unders.”
People qualities most admired: “Humility, loyalty.”
Somdev's opponent went down for the count
