Devvarman falls to Kim in VNB final

In the aftermath of a thrilling three-set win over former Virginia star Somdev Devvarman on Sunday in the finals of the Virginia National Bank Men’s Pro Championships, Kevin Kim said he never wants to see Devvarman again, let alone play him again.
Anyone in attendance at the Boar’s Head Sports Club on Sunday evening could tell you exactly why.
Devvarman grinded and grinded against Kim, the No. 87 player in the world. When he was done grinding, he grinded some more.
Devvarman overcame three match points in the second set before falling to Kim, 4-6, 7-6 (10-8), 4-6 in a match that featured endless baseline rallies.
“It took me I don’t how many match points to get the match over with,” Kim said. “I mean every match point was at least 30 balls.
“It’s torture.”
Kim said Devvarman was similar in style to current Virginia player Sanam Singh, whom he defeated in the quarterfinals on Friday night.
“Either way, I’d just rather play somebody else,” said Kim, when asked to compare the two.
Kim was leading 4-3 in the final set when he appeared to injure his leg after a fall.
“I knew once I fell to the ground, I kind of knew my chances of staying in a long rally weren’t good,” Kim said, “so I kind of attacked him and he sort of folded from there.
“I took my chances and it happened to work out.”
Devvarman, whose No. 121 ranking should go up after his run to the finals, wasn’t too bummed.
“Of course it’s disappointing to lose in the finals, but it’s just another match. I’ll just go on to the next one [in Knoxville] and try and do better.”
Having the chance to play in front of friends and former teammates was a dream come true, Devvarman said.
“It was awesome the way the whole community came out,” he said. “I love playing here and was really grateful to have all that support.”
Meanwhile, in the doubles final, Virginia alums Dom Inglot and Rylan Rizza put on a good showing before coming up just short, losing to Martin Emmrich (Germany) and Andreas Siljestrom (Sweden) 4-6, 6-3, 9-11.
“This is the first time we’ve ever played together, so we’re really happy that we jelled so well,” Inglot said. “There were just a few points here and there that decided the match all together.
“We’re disappointed that we couldn’t have won it in front of the home crowd, but we’ve done really well and are really happy. Hopefully, we can take that into other tournaments that we play together.”
Inglot and Rizza have elected to keep their partnership going. They plan on playing two Challenger events in Japan in a few weeks.
Inglot said he wasn’t surprised at the duo’s success.
“If you get along well, you can jell a lot quicker,” he said. “If you don’t know your partner, then it’s harder.
“But Riz and I are good friends. He was a fourth-year when I was a first-year. We have some history and know how each other play. And if you have fun on the court like we did, it’s easier.”