Divij chases the American dream after Games high
NEW DELHI: Divij Sharan has hardly got time to celebrate his men’s doubles gold at the Asian Games. Immediately after the medals ceremony, Divij dashed to catch a flight to New York where he will partner Artem Sitak at the US Open.
The Delhi boy has been in hot form this year and has climbed to No 38 in world rankings in doubles, the second Indian in the charts after Rohan Bopanna. At the Wimbledon, Divij and Sitak reached the quarter-finals where they lost to eventual champions Mike Bryan and Jack Sock.
Divij had also made it to the round of 16 at the Australian Open and French Open last year but with different partners. Finally, he has combined with Sitak of New Zealand for a longer duration and that he feels will bring more consistency.
“I will have a fixed partner in Artem Sitak on Tour this year. We have done well in the last couple of tournaments. For the first time I reached the quarter-finals of an ATP 500 tournament (Citi Open), made it to Wimbledon quarter-finals and have reached a career-high ranking of 36 this year. So I am feeling positive about my game,” said Divij.
They will play American pair of Even Zhu and Martin Redlicki in their opening match of US Open on Wednesday
“I definitely feel a Grand Slam doubles title is achievable. I have lost some close matches at Grand Slams against top combinations that could have gone either way. When you see that some of them have gone on to win the title, you feel that there was a chance,” said the 32-year-old.
Divij first achieved some success with Purav Raja and won two Tour titles with him, the first one coming in Bagota in 2013. Last year, he won the European Open in Antwerp with Scott Lipsky. He made his Davis Cup debut in 2012 but haven’t had much opportunity. The Asian Games gold has added to his confidence. “Well, it was a dream come true and the feeling is yet to sink in. Coming through such tough matches always gives you confidence.”
After the display in Jakarta, Divij is likely to pair up with Bopanna for the World Group playoff Serbia tie next month. “I will be looking forward to playing with Rohan If I am picked. We know each other well and we didn’t feel anything new in Jakarta. We were very comfortable. Rohan has a big game and we complement each other.”