For Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, the ATP Tour doubles title in Hangzhou marks a sort of Jeev 2.0 — not only has his game has matured and become more solid since he won his maiden title at his home town of Chennai, but he is also able to understand better the significance of triumph and what it means to his career going forward.
The 35-year-old left-hander claimed the ATP 250 Series event in Hangzhou, China, in the company of his friend and fellow Tamil Nadu player Vijay Sundar Prashanth, beating Constantin Frantzen and Hendrik Jebens of Germany 4-6, 7-6 (5), 10-7 in the hard-court final on Sunday.
Jeevan’s first title had come in 2017 at the Chennai Open in the company of veteran Davis Cupper and Australian Open Grand Slam champion Rohan Bopanna.
“I think (I am) a little bit more experienced. I remember the first title was a little sooner than I thought,” Jeevan, who has climbed 27 spots on the ATP ladder to be ranked 86 in doubles, told The Times of India.
“After switching to doubles, Rohan and I had won Chennai in 2017 and I didn’t really know where that title was going to take me, you know.
“I was just kind of excited to be playing Grand Slams, because that title happened to push me into the top 100. And ironically, this title has also pushed me into the top 100.
“But I would say, (in) 2017 I was kind of naive without any real path to move forward after achieving a 250 title. But now, I’m feeling much calmer after winning a title of this stage, because I have a set partner and I have schedule which works in our favour.
“And I’m healthy, I’m able to see that there is definitely going to be an exciting path to be playing with the same partner and consistently at a higher level.”
It has been an eventful year for him so far, and Jeevan, wiser with experience, feels things are falling in place for him.
“This year has not been very easy, there have been a lot of ups and downs. But very happy to be playing with Vijay, who’s one of my closest friends, not just on tour, but in life,” he said.
“We’ve been patient as a team. We’ve been learning how to get to our best ability together.
“As the as far as the emotions are concerned, I think in goal setting, it was very clear for me that this was going to be the year for me to build something, because I’m always looking at long term with my partners.
“I have only played with a handful of people my whole career. So with Vijay, we are just building something to give ourselves an opportunity to be, you know, a set team in the Grand Slams next year.”
A long-term partnership has become a rare phenomenon in modern doubles and Jeevan looks at it practically.
“A lot of teams are looking to build partnerships together. You can see (that) even with the Double Dream of India. So many teams are sticking together, and we’re just trying to figure out what best combinations are going to get us all into the Grand Slams,” he said.
“Today was a good day for Vijay and me, but the season has been good for Balaji and even Yuki has been doing very well.
“The ideal goal for this program is to see all the players sitting at the Slam, taking a group picture.”