Somdev Devvarman: Ranking Outlook Bleak Ahead of Wimbledon, French Open

Somdev Devvarman has not had a singles match on tour since losing to Denis Kudla at the Charlottesville Challenger in the fall of 2011. The Indian is ranked 230th in the world, according to the May 14th, 2012 rankings, and may be sinking further in the near future. 

However, his ranking remains good enough to be his country's No. 1 player. The bottom line is that Devvarman is playing well below his potential. Devvarman, once ranked as high as No. 62 in the world rankings, has nursed a shoulder injury for the last several months.

With 120 ranking points needing to be defended before the end of July, Devvarman appears to be heading out of the top 400. If he fails to defend those points, he will likely be ranked about 420th in the world by the time August rolls around.

His injury has been a major blow to Indian tennis. However, there is hope on the near horizon. There is a young and talented player starting to regain at least a little bit of momentum on tour. Yuki Bhambri, who is still just 19 years old, is back into the top 300 on the ATP Tour. 

Bhambri earned a match-win earlier this season on tour, defeating Karol Beck in the first round of Chennai. The Indian also made headlines when he defeated Denis Istomin in Davis Cup play in a memorable three-set match that featured tiebreakers in each set.

If Devvarman is able to get back to the form that saw him make the round of 16 at Indian Wells in 2011, the Indian is a clear threat to make the Top 50 on the men's tour. But even if his progress is slow, India appears to have an emerging talent in Bhambri as teenagers in the Top 300 on tour are not common.