Indian junior Dev Javia has progressed to round 2 of the Roland Garros Boys Doubles draw, notching up a tight win alongside his Chinese partner Hanwen Li. The duo beat their Russian/Hungarian opponents 4-6 6-3 10-8
Dev is being accompanied by his coach from Altevol Sports Academy, Mr. Shrimal Bhatt. Speaking about the win, Mr. Bhatt said – “Dev and Hanwen were playing for the first time together, so they lacked coordination in the first set. But in the second set, they started to press more and the coordination started to get better. Lee started serving much bigger, so that really helped. In the super tiebreak, Dev hit an excellent forehand inside in winner and a great drop volley, which really gave the team the momentum they needed”
Dev and Li were supposed to play top seeds Arthur Cazaux and Harold Mayot in the doubles, but the French boys gave a walkover – so our pair plays a British pair instead
Dev had lost a tight setter to Frenchman Antoine Ghibaudo earlier, 4-6 6-3 3-6, after having come through the wildcard playoffs held late last week. Speaking about his ward’s singles coach, Mr. Bhatt reflected – “It was a very cold and windy day. Dev wasn’t able to get used to the conditions very well. On the other hand, the Frenchman is used to these conditions. But Dev fought really well”
