Indian tennis player Somdev Devvarman defends decision to skip Asian Games

Somdev Devvarman on Wednesday stoutly defended his decision to skip the Asian Games, saying "it did not make any sense" playing in Incheon for three weeks at a time when he was striving hard to get back into top-100. Somdev said that his patriotism should not be questioned on the basis of this decision since he has given his all while doing the national duty in Davis Cup.

"It didn't make sense for my professional career to play," Somdev told PTI from Shangahi, where he is playing in an ATP Challenger tournament.

"I have had a tough year dealing with a few injuries unfortunately. My ranking has dropped but I am starting to feel good finally. Breaking into the top 100 is hard enough and by playing a three-week tournament mid season definitely doesn't make sense if my goal is to break back into the top 100," the country's top singles player said.

Somdev has been struggling since winning the Delhi Open in February as he has managed to win only six matches in 18 tournaments since then. As a result, he has dropped to 143 in singles ladder. Asked if not representing the country would hurt his reputation, Somdev said he was "not worried about that at all".

"Everyone who knows me well or has followed my tennis, knows how much I fight every time I have played for the country. For everyone who plays or have been around in professional tennis, I know they understand my decision.

Tennis is a very demanding sport. You play and travel full time and try and make a living under very tough circumstances.

"It's only people who don't know and have never been through the grind that will question me. They don't know what it takes to be a professional day in and day out and they don't understand it. And I can't blame them really. So with the actual tennis fraternity in India, I know all will be just fine," he said.