Jeevan, Balaji 'double' the joy at Wimbledon

CHENNAI: Amid the football World Cup fever, two Tamil Nadu tennis players realized their Wimbledon dream. Doubles players from the state - Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Sriram Balaji - qualified for main draw of the Grand Slam on Wednesday.
While for Chennai lad Jeevan this will his second Wimbledon appearance, having made it to SW19 last year too, this will be a Grand Slam debut for Balaji, who hails from Coimbatore.He and his partner and fellow Indian Vishnu Vardhan booked their berth in the men's doubles draw following a 6-3, 6-4 win over top seeds Denys Molchanov and Igor Zelenay in the second round.
"The tournament has just started for us," an elated Balaji told TOI from London on Wednesday. "I have been partnering with Vishnu on and off for almost 3-4 years now. But it has only been around 10 months since I have shifted my focus to playing only doubles and it has reaped rewards for me."
This is the first year Balaji is playing on grass and the 28-year old is already feeling at home. "Vishnu and my game is perfect for grass and though this is the first time I'm playing on grass, I'm feeling good about it. I play more serve and volley and that is more suited to grass. We played some Challengers before the Wimbledon to get into the rhythm and that paid off."
Balaji is happy that even though the road to Wimbledon hasn't been smooth for him, the hard work has finally paid off for the duo. "The season hasn't been easy for us. It had lots of ups and downs but we were patient and waited for our chance. When we won the Challenger in Uzbekistan in May last year, we knew we had the rankings to play in the qualifiers here. But we don't want to put any pressure on ourselves in Wimbledon," Balaji added.
For local boy Jeevan, getting into Wimbledon last year wasn't easy. He was supposed to play with Hyeon Chung but an ankle injury ruled him out. Jared Donaldson stepped in the 11th hour to partner the Indian in his debut Wimbledon. But this year has been a comparatively smooth ride for Jeevan. Jeevan and Krajicek have had a great run since joining forces recently. They reached the final of Nottingham Challenger and lifted the Ilkley trophy before coming to Wimbledon.
"It has taken me a couple of years but to find a set partner but I'm happy to play alongside Austin. Both of us are committed to playing with each other. Winning a difficult Challenger just before Wimbledon without dropping a set helped. But let's not get too ahead of ourselves. This is just the beginning," a cautious Jeevan said.