Playing in Wimbledon a dream come true: Jeevan

By Debayan Mukherjee

Kolkata, June 24 (IANS) Close on the heels of making the cut for the men's doubles main draw in Wimbledon this year, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan said it's a "dream come true" moment for him and he is all set to make a mark in his maiden stint in a Grand Slam tournament.

"It is a dream come true for me ... especially since it's Wimbledon," Jeevan, who won the Chennai Open men's doubles title with Rohan Bopanna earlier this year, told IANS from London.

It was Jeevan's grandfather who wished to see him play in the Big W someday, and the 95th doubles ranked player said he would like to stay in the present and continue working hard.

"Since it was my late grandfather's dream to see me play here, it is thrilling to be able to a make this year's edition, the 28-year old Chennai born player said.

"My aim is to play well and stay in the present ... continue working towards earning chances like this more often," he added.

Jeevan will partner 53rd ranked South Korean player Hyeon Chung in the competition which starts on July 3.

With a combined rank of 148, the pair qualified as the cut was kept at 160.

"Hyeon and I decided to try and sign up for Wimbledon before French Open this year. He is playing extremely well and I'm glad we were able to get into the draw," Jeevan said of his partner.

"We are a first time team so the pressure wouldn't be on us i think. but I have been training on grass for the past three weeks in England. I have played some warm up challenger tournaments. I feel more comfortable on grass than ever before so I'm confident we would play well together," Jeevan said.

(Debayan Mukherjee can be contacted at debayan.m@ians.in)

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