Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Substitute Dmitry Tursunov beat Andy Roddick in an epic five-set battle to seal a Russian victory over the United States.
Somdev Devvarman routed world number 59 Yen-Hsun Lu 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 to steer India to the third round of the Asia/Oceania Group I Davis Cup competition as the stunning victory gave the visitors an unassailable 3-1 lead against Chinese Taipei in Kaohsiung on Sunday. India will now play the winners of the other second round tie between Australia and Thailand in May to qualify for the World Group play-offs.
Mario Ancic beat Slovakia's Michal Mertinak to claim a 3-2 victory for Croatia in the Davis Cup final.
Slovakian number two Karol Beck was handed the daunting task of trying to stop Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic when the draw for the Davis Cup final was made on Thursday.
The matter came to light after the minor girl's father submitted a complaint with the police regarding the incident that took place under the Jubilee Hills police station limits on May 28.
India will host South Korea in a Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I first round tie, from February 1-3, 2013. In Tuesday's draw, India was seeded fourth, while Australia got top billing in the eight-team Group 1.
India face one of the most ferocious Davis Cup challenges at home as nothing less than their best would be required to challenge world number two Serbia, who will test skill and strength of the hosts even without world number one Novak Djokovic in Bangalore from Friday.
Both nations took 2-1 leads in their semi-finals with doubles victories.
Hewitt has been reeled in as replacement for unwell Nick Kyrgios
Harsh Mankad, included as a reserve player in the squad, had earlier demanded a guarantee of him playing in the tie.
V M Ranjeet will open India's Davis Cup campaign against an unranked but talented Min Hyeok Cho of Korea in the Asia/Oceania Group I tie, beginning in New Delhi on Friday.
The incident took place early on Saturday, when the statue was defaced by some unknown persons, the Consulate General of India in New York said.
In-form Gael Monfils will lead team mates Michael Llodra, Gilles Simon and Arnaud Clement in the Davis Cup final against Serbia, France captain Guy Forget said on Tuesday.
Yuki Bhambri fought back from the brink of defeat to script a stunning five-set victory over Daniel King Turner and give India a 1-0 lead in the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group I relegation play-off against New Zealand in Chandigarh on Friday. Vishnu Vardhan, ranked 262, was leading 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-4 in the second singles against Kiwi No 1 Jose Statham when the latter raised concerns about fading light and play was halted for the day.
Spain shrugged off the absence of Rafa Nadal to take a 2-0 lead over hosts the United States in their Davis Cup World Group quarter-final after gutsy wins by Feliciano Lopez and David Ferrer on Friday.
Instead he is fielding youngsters Harsh Mankad and Prakash Amritraj in the Asia-Oceania group I Davis Cup tie against China.
The Davis Cup revolt by Prakash Amritraj and Rohan Bopanna against captain Leander Paes was a diaster waiting to happen, according to former India player Anand Amritraj.
Switzerland face the 2007 winners from March 6 to 8 in a tie that could feature the world's No 1-ranked doubles pair, and the Olympic gold medal winning pair. In another fascinating tie, the 2008 finalists Spain will host Serbia, which could see world number one Rafael Nadal facing No 3 Novak Djokovic.
American Bob Bryan, one half of the world's top-ranked doubles pair, has pulled out of the Davis Cup semi-final against Spain starting on Friday after aggravating a shoulder injury.
A confident Rohan Bopanna will take on Thomaz Bellucci in the opening match of the Davis Cup World Group play-off tie between India and Brazil in Chennai on Friday.