Somdev Devvarman may have led a players' rebellion against the national tennis federation, but the All India Tennis Association has recommended him for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna for 2013.
Somdev has achieved some great results on the ATP Tour as well as multi-discipline games for India after turning pro.
He won the singles gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and gold in both singles and doubles at the Guangzhou Asian Games the same year.
Early this year, through a rebellion, he forced the AITA to improve playing conditions with regard to the Davis Cup.
He also formed a players association (ITPA) along with veterans Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi.
His best result on the Tour remains the final appearance in the 2009 Chennai Open.
He reached a career-high ranking of 62 in July 2011 but a shoulder injury coupled with poor form led to a slide in the rankings table. He was out of action for about eight months after undergoing shoulder surgery last January.
Apart from Somdev, the All India Tennis Association recommended yesteryear star Vijay Amritraj for the Dhyanchand award.
Vijay and his brother Anand had entered the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 1976.
Current Davis Cup coach Zeeshan Ali was recommended for the Arjuna award along with Rushmi Chakravarthi.
Nandan Bal, whom Zeeshan replaced as Davis Cup coach, was recommended for the Dronacharya award.
Photograph: Getty Images
