Spain playing Davis Cup tennis on clay in front of a home crowd is about as close to a sure thing as sport provides, and just because Rafael Nadal suddenly looks vulnerable the Czech Republic are not about to forget it.
India's top ranked player Somdev Devvarman and number two Prakash Amritraj have been awarded wildcards for the men's singles main draw at the $ 450,000 ATP Chennai Open to be held at the SDAT, Nungambakkam Stadium, from January 5-11 next year.
The Indian men's and women's teams registered identical 3-1 victories over Czech Republic and Slovenia respectively, in the 10th and penultimate round of the 32nd Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany, on Monday. The women's team, with 14 points, improved to joint-seventh while the men's team moved to joint-ninth place.
Rain caused two hours of play to be lost at the French Open on Thursday.
Top 10 duo Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco have returned to the Spain side for next month's Davis Cup final against Czech Republic, captain Albert Costa said on Monday.
Petra Kvitova will start the defence of her Wimbledon title next week with no competitive grasscourt practice after pulling out of the Aegon International at Eastbourne where she was top seed.
Spain striker Diego Costa could miss next month's European Championship finals due to his latest hamstring injury, Chelsea's interim manager Guus Hiddink said on Friday.
World number one Novak Djokovic received a free pass into the third round of the U.S. Open when Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic withdrew from their match on Wednesday due to a left forearm injury. The walkover provided the top-seeded defending champion with an extended break to improve his niggling left wrist injury before his next match against either Guido Pella of Argentina or Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.
The 19-year old Indian and Ana Ivanovic of Serbia beat Italy's Maria Elena Camerin and Tathiana Garbin at the Nasdaq 100 Open.
Seven-times European champions AC Milan eased some of the pressure on coach Carlo Ancelotti with a 3-1 UEFA Cup win at home to FC Zurich on Thursday.
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer could go head to head in the first round of next year's Davis Cup after Spain were drawn to face Switzerland in the first round of the World Group on Wednesday.
