His hometown of Tripura in India’s north-east must surely have made Somdev Devvarman no stranger to the idiosyncrasies of rainy weather, but the spell of thundershowers that forced him to wait nearly 24 hours for a place in his first Grand Slam singles main draw would’ve been the most exasperating delay he’s ever had to face. The 24-year-old has learnt a thing or two about handling tough situations, though, even if they are sent his way by nature. “It was a bit frustrating, but then again it was something out of my control. I just focused on my preparation the next day and didn’t lose any sleep over it,” said Devvarman.

It was only a bizarre twist of events that would’ve denied him an honour he was three points away from, and it took Devvarman hardly any time to finish off the win over Jerzy Janowicz. But this, he said, was simply the beginning. “It’s one of my biggest tennis moments. But no celebrations, I need to focus on my next match and be ready for it,” said the Indian, who will play 110-ranked Frederico Gil of Portugal in his-round match, and may run into world No 23 Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second, if the German beats Italian Andreas Seppi.

The rough patch of the last few months behind him, the 162-ranked player acknowledges how much he likes playing in the US, where he played all his college tennis. “The US is like a home away from home and I feel comfortable here too. A lot of my buddies who work in New York came to watch me play the qualifiers. My sister Paulami is also here from India, so that was a great support,” he said.

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