A first-round exit at the Delhi Open, where he was defending a lot of points, cost Yuki Bhambri eight places, as he dropped out of the top-100 and is placed at 107 in the latest tennis rankings, issued on Monday.
Maintaining her rich vein of form in the current season, Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black bagged the women's doubles title at the WTA Toray Pacific Open with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Spain's Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro.
Taking exception to top Indian tennis players' reluctance to compete in the recent Asian Games, the Sports Ministry on Wednesday said individual players will be able to avail government grants only if they undertake to be available for India whenever called upon.
India's non-playing captain Anand Amritraj said that the doubles team's "shock" defeat on day two resulted in the hosts ultimately losing the Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie against Czech Republic.
The All India Tennis Association may be backing Leander Paes to the hilt in him making the squad for the Rio Olympics, but the veteran star will not be picked in the Davis Cup team despite showing late interest in competing in the Asia/Oceania Group I tie against Korea Republic next month.
In the ATP doubles, Leander Paes slid to 25, a loss of four places.
Sania Mirza is in line to win her third Grand Slam title and first with new partner Bruno Soares as the top seeded pair struggled past Yung-Jan Chan and Ross Hutchins to reach the mixed doubles summit clash.
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Sania Mirza took a giant leap towards becoming the world number one player in the doubles by pocketing 1000 ranking points, following her stupendous title win in the Miami Open with partner Martina Hingis.
Sumit Nagal lived a dream when he took on one of the greatest players of all time at a packed Arthur Ashe stadium in a US Open first-rounder.
Veteran star Leander Paes is set to combine with Rohan Bopanna for the doubles rubber during the Davis Cup tie against Serbia, Indian captain Anand Amritraj confirmed today but he says nothing has been decided on the Asian Games squad as yet.
Even a second-string Serbia proved a mighty opponent as Yuki Bhambri and Somdev Devvarman suffered crushing singles defeats to leave India trailing 0-2 on the opening day of the Davis Cup World Group play-off tie in Bangalore.
Rafael Nadal will play for the Indian side in the second edition of the International Premier Tennis League.
Yuki Bhambri will open India's Davis Cup campaign against Serbia, drawn against visiting side's No 2 player Dusan Lajovic for the first singles match of the World Group playoff tie, beginning in Bangalore on Friday.
India will field a second-string tennis contingent in this month's Asian Games after allowing frontline players, including Leander Paes and Sania Mirza, to play on the professional tours instead to revive their rankings.
Enrico Piperno, who was also India's Fed Cup coach says, lack of funding, support and infrastructure will cease creation of a top-50 player
India's non-playing captain Anand Amritraj was upbeat ahead of the Asia Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie against New Zealand, to be played in Pune from February 3 to 5, but cautioned the Kiwis should not be taken lightly.
Leander Paes was, on Saturday, gracious in defeat and conceded that Czech player Adam Pavlasek played "phenomenal" tennis in the Davis Cup doubles game in New Delhi.
Saketh Myneni got himself in line for two gold medals by reaching the finals of both men's doubles and mixed doubles events even as other Indian tennis players, including Sania Mirza, clinched three bronze at the Asian Games in Incheon on Sunday.
Defending Nagal, who has been dropped from the team for the upcoming New Zealand tie due to serious breach of discipline, and criticising AITA for publicly humiliating the player, Devvarman wrote in an open letter in the Indian Express that AITA could have dealt with the player privately.
Saina Mirza and Saketh Myneni proved too strong for the Chinese Taipei combination of Hsien Yin Peng and Hao Ching Chan to win the gold in the mixed doubles final at the Asian Games.
The Sports Ministry has chosen 152 athletes across disciplines for Rs. 50,000 allowance per month for their preparations for next year's Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Caught in a dilemma over competing in the Asian Games or the WTA tournaments which clash with the event, Sania Mirza on Sunday, decided to let the All India Tennis Association take a call on her participation in the continental extravaganza in Incheon, Korea.
Mahesh Bhupathi said he has no 'personal agenda' in keeping Leander Paes out of India's Davis Cup team and said his former partner's decision to leave Bangalore mid-way into the tie was a final nail in the coffin.
India were handed a tough Davis Cup draw, being pitted against top seeds Czech Republic in the World Group Play-offs, to be held from September 18-20 either in New Delhi or Pune.
'The team will be chosen the day before the draw. I am not sure who is going to play doubles. I am not sure if I am going to have any doubles players at all but whatever needs to win I will make sure that happens'
A bullish Sumit Nagal says he has learnt to control his inner demons and is ready to cause "more damage" on the ATP circuit after a spirited show against Roger Federer on his Grand Slam debut.
India's top tennis players Mahesh Bhupathi, Saketh Myneni, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Sriram Balaji have been granted wild card entries into the doubles draw of Chennai Open, the organisers announced on Monday.
Saketh Myneni and Yuki Bhambri registered dominating straight-set victories as India completed a 5-0 rout of Chinese Taipei in the first round Asia/Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie in Indore on Sunday.
With only one Asian Games gold to show after four days of competition, India's hopes of improving on their medal tally in China four years ago are diminishing fast.
Nagal said he would look to play more ATP Tour events this year but for that he would have to first improve his rankings.
In a significant development, Sania Mirza has agreed to play in the upcoming Asian Games, two days after All India Tennis Association announced that they would allow top players to miss the Incheon event, keeping in mind their requirements on the professional circuit.
The evening start for the Davis Cup tie against Spain has caught the Indian team by surprise with captain Anand Amritraj calling it an 'unfortunate' decision that has compromised the country's home advantage.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday
Ramkumar Ramanathan's good run at the Chennai Open continued as he combined with compatriot N Sriram Balaji to knock out fourth seeded Kiwi pair of Artem Sitak and Marcus Daniel on Wednesday and storm into the doubles quarter-finals.
Surprised by the sacking of his elder brother as India's Davis Cup skipper, the legendary Vijay Amritraj says Anand Amritraj is the country's best captain in the last three decades and it is quite against the trend to remove a winning leader.
'In my eight ties as captain we won five and lost three to Serbia, Czech Republic and Spain who were all better teams than us. We should have won against Czech but lost 3-2. Having said that they were top 10 teams and I am not too unhappy losing to them'
A profligate Yuki Bhambri missed chances galore in a tame defeat against world number 40 Jiri Vesley as India lost the Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie against top seeds Czech Republic 1-3.
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza was spotted in the 17th Asian Games village in Incheon on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
Sania Mirza recently added a mixed doubles gold from the Asian Games to her three Grand Slam titles in the same category, and is ranked world No. 7 in doubles. However, Indian tennis legend Vijay Amritraj says he would have loved to see her do well in singles and fulfil her true potential.
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