“Our rivalry goes back a long way, to our college tennis days, he was at Illinois, I was in Virginia. But it’ll be an interesting tie against South Africa, because I remember when the draw came out our first thought was, now we have a real chance, but then, South Africa must’ve thought the same thing. It’ll be a good contest.”

This latest whirlwind visit, as always, has been crammed full of interviews and sound bytes, leaving him with hardly a moment to breathe. Devvarman leaves for the US on Friday morning, and will begin training for the lead-up to the US Open.

Before that, he plays in an exhibition event in New York headlined by the presence of Andre Agassi. His things-to-do list has hardly any blank spaces, but as Devvarman says while signing off, he wouldn’t have it any other way.