Indian tennis ace Devvarman defeated Belgian Xavier Malisse 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5) in a two-hour third round contest at Indian Wells on Monday to set up a meeting with World No 1 Rafael Nadal next.
Nadal easily got the better of American qualifier Ryan Sweeting on the showpiece centre court, winning 6-3, 6-1.
The 26-year-old Devvarman is making his third main draw appearance at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament. He defeated Adrian Mannarino and No 19 seed Marcos Baghdatis in the first two rounds.
"It's one of those things when you're playing with confidence, playing well, you want to keep playing, and it doesn't happen too often," said Devvarman.
"I mean, for Rafa and Fed it does, but for the majority of the players it's one of those things you want to kind of ride the momentum and keep playing, keep playing with adrenaline, and hope for the best in your next matches."
On his match against Nadal, Devvarman said, "Rafa is obviously No. 1 in the world, won a lot of Grand Slams."
"I have a lot of respect for the guy. He's one of my favorite tennis players, one of my idols, so when I'm out there I'm gonna do everything I can to win the match.
"I'm gonna compete as hard as I can and leave everything on the table," Devvarman was quoted as saying on the tournament website.
Photograph: Getty Images
