Adapting to different partners is one of the biggest challenges for a doubles player. Divij Sharan, India's second highest ranked men's doubles specialist, wouldn't dispute this.
Divij's record this season has been encouraging. Following his triumph in the Challenger event at Bordeaux (with Purav Raja), the Delhiite won the ATP European Open with Scott Lipsky in Antwerp, Belgium. Earlier this month, Divij broke into the top-50. The positive results though haven't come easily.
Ever since his split with Purav, Divij hasn't played with a regular partner. The 31-year-old has combined with eight different partners in 11 tournaments, a period that he admits being a testing one. "Ideally, it is good to have one fixed partner. But that's how it is in doubles and it was indeed challenging for me in the beginning. There were different players and I had to get adjusted to their styles. It's a good learning experience," he confessed.
Divij on Wednesday moved into the quarterfinals with Russian Mikhail Elgin with a 6-3, 6-3 win over India's Sumit Nagal and Elias Ymer of Sweden at the Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger. The best method he felt to tackle this issue was to focus on himself. "I concentrated on my game more and it has helped me. I have been playing well and the main reason behind it is that I was focused more on my progress than on my changing partners. My results have been good and right from the start of the year, I wanted to play more tournaments" he explained.
Currently ranked 51, Divij aims for a better season next year with partner Scott Lipsky, with whom he is set to play the ATP Maharashtra Open and ATP Auckland Open. He had words of praise for Lipsky. "He has a good sense of doubles. We have a similar game and our styles match. We complement each other well. He is a good player and I am happy with our partnership. At Antwerp we beat quality pairs like Rajeev Ram/Raven Klaasen and Julio Peralta/Santiago Gonzalez en route to the title. We are looking forward for a good show next year," he said.
