Purav Raja does a double in Great Britain

Former national champion Purav Raja is on a roll having just picked up his second ITF Futures doubles title in two weeks, both triumphs coming on British soil.

The 22-year-old partnered Jiri Krkoska of the Czech Republic to win the Great Britain Futures 2 and 3 tournaments at Sheffield and Tipton last week.

The victories have taken Raja to a career-best 358 in the doubles rankings and he is expected to crack the top 350 when the latest rankings are issued on Monday.

Despite the streak of consecutive wins, the 2006 National Champion said he still considered himself more of a singles player.

"At the moment, I believe doubles is a great stepping stone for singles which is my priority as I could get into the main draw of some challengers and play singles qualifiers," Raja told the Indian Tennis Blog.

"But yeah! I definitely really enjoy doubles."

Raja, currently ranked 839 in singles, is in contention for a main draw place at the India F1 and F2 Futures tournaments in Kolkata and New Delhi later this month.

All training, no tennis for Yuki Bhambri in February

Teenage prodigy Yuki Bhambri, considered by many to be India's next tennis great, is taking a break from the Junior tour for a month of training before playing Asian circuit events in March.

The 15-year-old's dream run in the 2008 Australian Open Boys' Singles event came to an end in the semifinals, where he lost in three sets to eventual champion Bernard Tomic of Australia.

Bhambri, ranked 12 in the world after his exploits at Melbourne Park, told the Indian Tennis Blog he won't be playing any ITF Junior circuit events in February.

"I plan to train for a month and then perhaps play the Asian circuit - Thailand, Philippines - and the (Grade) B1 in Delhi in March and April," Bhambri said.

"Hopefully, I will be able to further improve my ranking then."

Currently, Bhambri is gearing up for the LTAT Junior Championships at Nonthaburi, Thailand (March 10-16) and the Mitsubishi-Lancer International Juniors Championships at Manila (March 25-30).

Meanwhile, Yuki's elder siblings Sanaa and Ankita are heading for training in Florida before trying their luck at the $25,000 ITF Clearwater tournament beginning February 18. Several Indian women players, led by Indian no. 2 Sunitha Rao, have entered the Florida event.

"...and then (we'll) probably come back and play the challengers (Delhi and Noida) and the WTA (Bangalore) in March," Sanaa told the Indian Tennis Blog.

Somdev Dev Varman's twin triumph at Florida

Mainstream newspapers in India may have ignored news of Somdev Dev Varman's triumph at the USA F1 Futures at Wesley Chapel(Florida) on January 13 but the 22-year-old Indian isn't complaining.

The reigning NCAA champion won the singles title at the $10,000 hardcourt tournament after going through qualifying for the 32-player event - a total of seven matches on the trot.

If that wasn't enough, Dev Varman partnered American Treat Huey to victory in the men's doubles event.

"I played a lot of tough matches beginning with my first round," he told the Indian Tennis Blog. "Overall it was a good learning experience for me and I'm glad I went to play."

Dev Varman is currently ranked a measly 1037 on the ATP Tour, thanks to his decision not to turn professional till mid-2008, when he finishes his stint at the University of Virginia.

"Over the next few months, I am focussed on finishing up school and helping my team to be at the very top of college tennis," he said.

"I'm not sure about what pro tournaments I'll be playing but I will be working on my pro schedule after I graduate soon."

Dev Varman won the NCAA championship in May 2007 - the first Indian to triumph at the premier American collegiate event and emulate the likes of John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe.

In a poll conducted by the Indian Tennis Blog in December, 48 per cent picked Dev Varman as the "Indian player to watch out for in 2008".

Should Somdev Dev Varman turn professional?
	Yes - he's wasting his best formative years
	No - he will peak gradually this way
	Can't say
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Why Tara Iyer lost so early in the Pune Challenger

In case you were stumped by Tara Iyer's first round loss at the ITF $25,000 Pune Challenger this week, here's the explanation.

The 19-year-old was playing after a week of "not practising due to an abdominal pull". And that reflected in her 4-6, 2-6 loss to fellow Indian Rushmi Chakravarthi.

"I still wasn't able to serve normally and was a bit rusty," Iyer told the Indian Tennis Blog.

"Anyway, I'm doing rehab and hopefully it should be okay in a week or so."

Interestingly, Iyer also lost to Chakravarthi in the second round of the Pune event in 2006.

But this year, the fourth-seeded Iyer was the highest ranked Indian in the draw and had been expected to sail past Chakravarthi - who at 472 is ranked more than a hundred places below Iyer (368) on the WTA list.

Iyer, number 3 in India after Sania Mirza and Sunitha Rao, is enjoying her best year on the circuit so far having achieved a career high rank of 350 in September 2007.

Stephen Amritraj, Ashutosh Singh shine this week

The big names of Indian tennis couldn't weave much magic in tournaments this week, leaving little known players Stephen Amritraj and Ashutosh Singh to impress with breakthrough performances.

Amritraj, who grew up in the Californian city of Calabasas, partnered American Adam Davidson to reach the doubles semifinal at the ATP Calabasas Challenger.

The duo, who gained entry as lucky losers because of an injury default to Jan-Michael Gambill, stunned top seeds Bobby Reynolds and Rajeev Ram 6-3,6-4 in the opening round.

Amritraj, 23, and Davidson eventually lost 5-7,2-6 to fourth seeds Robert Kendrick(US) and Cecil Mamiit(PHI) in the semifinal.

Stephen, son of former tennis player Anand Amritraj, had partnered cousin Prakash to reach the semifinals of the Fergana Challenger earlier this year.

Back home in India, newly crowned National hard court champion Ashutosh Singh spearheaded the country's challenge at the India F9 Futures in Bellary, Karnataka.

Singh's splendid run in the singles event, which began with ousting top seed Pavol Cervenak of Slovakia 6-3,6-4 in the opening round, came to an end in the semifinals.

Singh, ranked 659 on the ATP list, lost to third seeded Austrian Rainer Eitzinger 4-6,3-6.

But he gained revenge by partnering Vivek Shokeen (in pic) to beat Eitzinger and Philipp Oswald 7-6(4),3-6,10-5 in the doubles final.

Wildcard Rupesh Roy, who lost in the quarterfinals to Singh, also impressed with a second round win over Romania's Adrian Gavrila.

Elsewhere in Europe, Sania Mirza lost in her Zurich Open opener before retiring for the season while Leander Paes and Martin Damm lost in the second round of the Madrid Masters doubles.

Sunitha Rao, who reached the finals at the ITF San Francisco Tennis Classic last week, withdrew from the ITF Lawrenceville Challenger at the last minute.

Down under in Gympie(Australia), Tara Iyer couldn't do much against fourth seeded home favourite Monique Adamczak and lost 1-6,6-7(5) in the first round.

Partnering Nungnudda Wannasuk of Thailand, Iyer also lost to Adamczak and Briton Jade Curtis 7-6(2),6-7(3),5-10 in the doubles quarterfinal.

Sunitha Rao falls at final hurdle in San Francisco

A brilliant run in the $50,000 ITF San Francisco Tennis Classic ended with defeat in the final for India's Sunitha Rao. The eighth seed couldn't keep the magic going against top seeded American Ashley Harkleroad and went down tamely 6-1, 6-2.

The loss was a disappointing one for Rao but it was still her best result for 2007 - gaining her $3,990 in prizemoney and 25 valuable WTA points. Her latest ranking shot ten places up to 175 and Rao is now within striking distance of her career-best ranking of 152 (achieved in July 2003).

The Florida-based player had started the year ranked 232 and had dipped as low as 278 in June before jumping 100 places in just four months. Rao had also been the losing finalist in a $25,000 ITF event at Tampa in July.

The San Francisco result had not been an unexpected one. Harkleroad, although now ranked just 92, is a former Top 40 player and not one to be taken lightly. Interestingly, Rao had won their previous encounter in the 2003 Australian Open qualifiers, albeit in three sets.

Rao, who will celebrate her 22nd birthday on October 27, also had luck on her side - she didn't face anybody ranked higher than her in the four matches till the final.

In the latest WTA rankings (October 15), Rao led an army of Indian women moving up the list. Tara Iyer moved one place up to 358, Rushmi Chakravarthi gained two places to be ranked 368 and Isha Lakhani moved up three spots to 432.

But Indian number one Sania Mirza dropped one spot to 30, thanks to a first round exit at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

In the doubles, Mirza moved up one spot to 19, while Rao lost three places to be placed 141. The biggest loser of the week was Shikha Uberoi - who slid 43 places to 209.

Rohan Bopanna, the best Indian player in the men's singles, was down nine places (260) while Prakash Amritraj slid two spots (270). The big gainer - no. 343 Karan Rastogi who moved up four places.

In the doubles rankings, Bopanna's semifinal run at ATP Stockholm saw him jump seven places to 79 while Leander Paes(17) and Mahesh Bhupathi(21) retained their spots on the list.

Middle-level Indian players have a chance to earn valuable points at the men's $15,000 India F9 Futures event at Bellary, Karnataka which kicked off on Monday.

Can Sunitha Rao ever match Sania Mirza's achievements?
	Yes - the way she's playing, anything is possible
	No - Rao doesn't have what it takes
	Can't say - we'll have to watch her in 2008
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Paes, Bopanna and Sunitha Rao impress this week

It's been a reasonably good week for Indian tennis but not for Sania Mirza. India's number one singles player floundered in the opening round of the Kremlin Cup - falling to nemesis Gisela Dulko in her third straight carrer defeat to the Argentine.

Her luck in the doubles was only marginally better. Partnering Switzerland's Patty Schnyder, Mirza was ousted by the world's best doubles pair - Cara Black and Liezel Huber - in the quarterfinals.

Be that as it may, ATP Tour veteran Justin Gimelstob had this to say about the 20-year-old in his SI.com column this week.

"Mirza has ignited a continent with her success. She is a cult figure in her native India, and can't walk down the street without a full security detail. She possesses one of the biggest forehands in the game, and is attractive and charming. She's also integral to growing the game in the Far East."

As such the flag for Indian tennis was held high by Leander Paes. Just weeks before he ends his partnership with Martin Damm, the dynamic duo reached the semifinals of the BA-CA Tennis Trophy tournament in Vienna.

Paes and Damm even had two matchpoints before the fourth seeded Polish pair of Marciusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski advanced to the final with a 2-6, 7-5, 12-10 win.

Paes would be partnering Paul Hanley of Australia in 2008 and his reasons for splitting with Damm are purely professional.

"We have different goals next year...Martin wants to cut down on his tennis, while I want to play a full year, so we decided to get new partners," Paes told The Telegraph from Vienna.

Also impressive this week was Rohan Bopanna whose semifinal appearance with Belgium's Olivier Rochus at the ATP Stockholm Open is further proof he's going to make it big in doubles. His stint as lucky loser in the singles draw had ended after he squandered a 4-1 lead to lose in straight sets to Spain's Albert Montanes in the first round. But Bopanna made good in the doubles with a win over South Africa's Jeff Coetzee and Dutchman Rogier Wassen.

It was only in the semis that second seeds Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi got the better of the Indo-Belgian pair in straight sets - 6-3, 7-5.

On the ITF circuit, Sunitha Rao has made the quarterfinals of the $50,000 San Francisco event. Her match against Indonesia's Romana Tedjakusuma wasn't over when this report was filed but there's a good chance the eighth seed will get through easily to the semis. Rao had routed Tedjakusuma in straight sets at a $25,000 tournament in Tampa, USA earlier this year.

Top seeds Rao and American Julie Ditty stumbled in their doubles opener - falling to an unseeded pair from South Africa.

Down Under in Rockhamption, eighth seed Tara Iyer made it to the second round before qualifier Robin Stephenson proved too strong for the Indian on the Australian hardcourts.

In domestic action, Bellary in Karnataka will play host to the $15,000 India F9 Futures event next week with most of India's top singles players in attendance.