My good form prior to Nadal match helped, says Somdev

Indian Wells (USA): After giving his idol Rafael Nadal a good fight in the fourth round of the BNP

Paribas ATP Masters here, Somdev Devvarman feels that his form prior to the tournament helped him do well against the top-ranked player in the world. Somdev, who became the first Indian to reach the fourth round of an ATP Masters event, did extremely well against Nadal, going down 5-7 4-6 after near two-hour battle. Somdev said he overcame the initial jitters after spending some time on the court. "After the first couple of games, I felt I was just out there playing a match. I didn`t think about who I was facing. I started out well, too, so I felt very comfortable on the court.” "I was excited to play and the best part is that I had played good tennis leading into this match. It was a great experience to play the number one player in the world in one of the biggest stadiums in the world," Somdev told reporters after the match. Somdev had beaten world number 45 Janko Tipsarevic and also played extremely well against top-20 player Viktor Troicki in a first round World Group tie of the Davis Cup. Prior to that, he reached the final of the South Africa Open and also fought well against legedary Swiss Roger Federer at the Dubai Open. Nadal also praised the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games gold medallist for his spirited show. "For sure, he did well and had a very good tournament. He had a very, very good victory over Xavier Malisse (in the third round) and I wish him all the best for the rest of the season," he said. PTI