Divij Sharan / Purav Raja (pair) thread ...

[Varma]

That is some thumping of a very experienced duo. DiPu are quietly and steadily climbing up the ladder. They certainly have it in them to get into the list of top-20 teams next year. Higher the better though!

- Varma

[prashanthm]

$100K+H Bratislava Challenger

Another great, albeit a close one, against another pair of formidable players...

[SF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND,64) / Purav Raja (IND,67) d. Mikhail Elgin (RUS,109) / Denis Istomin (UZB,164) 36 76(3) 10-3

Up against the Skupski brothers, who took the top seeds out, in the final....

[F] (3) Divij Sharan (IND,64) / Purav Raja (IND,67) v. (4) Ken Skupski (GBR,79) / Neal Skupski (GBR,88)

[bujilover]

Skupski brothers are good friends with Purav and D. This match will be highly entertaining to watch

Great run so far and good luck to our team

[prashanthm]

This helps both Divij and Purav achieve their career high rankings....

Divij will be #61 with a chance to move to #58, sandwiched between Leander and Zimo...
Purav will be #65 with a chance to move to #62...

As a pair, they are #35 in this year's rankings.....

[sameerph]

I watched the match from the middle of the second set and DiPu really raised their game just when it needed against a strong serving team. Purav was really firing with big serves, great returns and deft touch at the net and in the match tie break Divij too played his part,

DiPu have beaten the Skupskis twice in UK grasscourt season and beat Ken Skupski with another partner in Loa Cabos ATP final. Hoep they continue their domination.

[PKBasu]

Terrific run in a high quality Challenger. The wins in the QF and SF over very strong pairs were especially heartening. Good luck in the final!!

[PKBasu]

Sadly DiPu lost the final to the Skupkis 64 36 5-10

Still takes them to their career high rankings of 61 and 65 for Divij and Purav respectively, more or less guaranteeing a place in the AO main draw.

[sameerph]

DiPu were second seed in the main draw at Brescia challenger in Italy but gave a walkover due to some injury/illness for Divij. I guess this may be the end of season for them now.

[vatsal323]

An article written by me on DiPu's 2016 season -

http://www.sportskeeda.com/tennis/divij ... issed-2016

[PKBasu]

Nice article, Vatsal.

[vatsal323]

Thanks PKB!

[VReddy]

Nice article, Vatsal! You are really doing great work with Indian Tennis Daily, SportsKeeda, Player fan pages - great to see the progress . You rock!

By the way - I don't agree with Divij / Purav on this

Raja and Sharan are themselves surprised and disappointed with the lack of attention and appreciation from their own countrymen.“We are not hungry to be in the limelight. We are simple, but there’s evidence that nobody knows we are ranked 60 in the world. Outside India, if you are 60-70, people know and support you. They will give you whatever you want. They understand your achievements," Raja said.Sharan, who plays left-handed, said, “Sometimes the lack of acknowledgment obviously hurts. A little bit of respect would make us feel better.”

On the contrary, I feel we in India follow doubles way more than any other country . Additionally, doubles challenger titles are equivalent to singles futures titles in my opinion. So the coverage they have got is on par/more given that yardstick. Once they start winning more ATP 250 titles (== ATP Singles Challenger) then the coverage would definitely increase.

Again this is based on my limited sample of interactions in the swiss tennis clubs since I started playing tennis over the past year. Not many follow doubles that much - i will be shocked if what what has been written above is true! - Would be glad to be proven wrong

[Atithee]

No one seriously cares about doubles in the world. It's a social thing that enables more people to use limited resources. Certainly no one cares about a 60th ranked doubles tennis player where there are knowkegable tennis followers. This is just whining.

[Sin Hombre]

Agreed.

I would put winning an atp250 event in doubles at the same level as winning a 15k (now 25k) futures event in singles.

Most tennis fans wouldn't be able to name more than 5 doubles players.

Most casual fans won't be able to name even a single doubles player.

[PKBasu]

I think you guys are being a bit too harsh on doubles. The casual tennis fans you refer to probably cannot name most singles players outside the top-10 either. Winning an ATP doubles event (like those at Los Cabos and Bogota) is at least as big a deal as winning a Challenger singles title.

From my experience in Singapore with fellow members of the tennis club I play at, everybody has heard of Leander Paes. I doubt too many would have heard of Divij Sharan, but would be very impressed to learn that he is ranked 61 in doubles.

More important, for a nation starved of world-class athletes/sportspeople, to ignore players who are ranked in the 60s in the only truly global sport that we as a nation have ever mattered at is myopic. (Golf is the other global sport where we are finally making a mark). DiPu are nowhere near the level yet at which they should be celebrities (and frankly RB has never really qualified to be one either), but they are at least worthy of being noticed more by fellow-Indians.