'Before the match I spoke to Leander and he told me to play for the country and 'Davis Cup is a great adventure, so give your best'
Late Tchouameni header gives Real Madrid 2-1 Las Palmas win and top spot
In a bold decision, Underdogs India have preferred Ramkumar Ramanathan over No. 1 singles player Sumit Nagal for their Davis Cup qualifier against top seeds Croatia, beginning in Zagreb on Friday.
Paes was dropped from the tie against Uzbekistan last April. He has been out of favour since the Bengaluru fiasco when he was not included in the starting line-up by captain, Mahesh Bhupathi.
Rafael Nadal to play for Spain in new Davis Cup Finals while World No 1 Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, have already said they would support the ATP Cup -- seen as a rival team event to the Davis Cup -- when it begins in Australia just a few weeks after the ITF's flagship event.
Tomic dropped from Davis Cup after blast at officials.
The 12 winners of the Qualifiers on March 6-7 next year will compete alongside the six nations that have automatically qualified for the 2020 Finals.
A final decision is expected by March based on the hosting and COVID-19 contingency proposals received from bidders.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday said the government will not have any say on whether India should participate in next month's Davis Cup tie in Pakistan as the event is not a bilateral engagement.
When it comes to producing the raucous atmospheres which help make the Davis Cup unique among tennis events, few do it as well as the Belgians who have reached two of the last three finals, losing on both occasions.
AITA said last week they had written to International Tennis Federation (ITF) asking them to shift the tie to a neutral venue
Sikhs have more in the way of domestic clout and electoral representation in Canada than they do in India. No politician in Ottawa can ignore the concerns of a community with this level of representation, notes Devangshu Datta.
The All India Tennis association (AITA), taking a more aggressive stance than earlier, said it would not request for a neutral venue for the Asia Oceania Zone 1 tie on September 14-15 as is being asked by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
Borna Coric and Marin Cilic put Croatia in complete control of the Davis Cup final on Friday, leaving hosts and defending champions France facing what looks like mission impossible.
Nagal, who has played his best tennis this season, sent a confirmation to the All India Tennis Association (AITA) on Thursday night while Ramkumar had conveyed his availability a few days ago.
Atletico Madrid needed a penalty shootout to edge past Inter Milan and reach the Champions league quarter-finals after a dramatic last-16 clash ended 2-2 on aggregate on Wednesday.
David Goffin and Steve Darcis staged a thrilling comeback on Sunday to take Belgium into their second Davis Cup final in three years with a 3-2 victory over Australia.
The four-time champion "King James" became the league's scoring king just over a year ago when he passed Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
AITA likely to request ITF to consider neutral venue for Davis Cup tie vs Pak
"I think especially Rafa playing singles and doubles almost every day, he's been our MVP this week," Lopez said.
There was just gut-wrenching despair as Serbia's hopes slipped away in the cruellest fashion imaginable.
Rafael Nadal fired hosts Spain into the Davis Cup final as he joined Feliciano Lopez to win a thrilling late-night doubles and seal a nail-biting 2-1 victory over Britain on Saturday.
Rohit Rajpal will continue as India's non-playing captain. He took over as captain last year after the country's top players and then captain Mahesh Bhupathi refused to travel to Pakistan in November. India is scheduled to travel to Croatia for their next tie on March 6 and 7.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan walked the ramp with Eva Longoria, Viola Davis and Cindy Bruna for L'Oreal at the Paris Fashion Week.
Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert made sure of that with a gripping doubles win that keeps France's hopes against Croatia alive in the last final to be staged in the event's traditional format.
Benoit Paire made a remarkable Davis Cup debut for France, outplaying Pablo Carreno-Busta 7-5, 6-1, 6-0 in the opening rubber of the World Group semi-final tie against Spain at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Friday.
Barcelona won 3-1 at Alaves in La Liga on Saturday thanks to goals by Robert Lewandowski, Ilkay Gundogan and substitute Victor Roque, who was sent off after picking up a second yellow card.
Bora Gojo and Marin Cilic gave Croatia a 2-0 lead over India, winning the opening singles, in their Davis Cup qualifier in Zagreb on Friday. Gojo, ranked 277th, put the hosts ahead with a come-from-behind 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over world No. 132 Prajnesh Gunneswaran while world No. 37 Cilic was taken to two tie-breakers before prevailing over 182-ranked Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-6(8), 7-6(8).
The AITA has appointed former Davis Cupper Anand Amritraj as the new non-playing captain of the Davis Cup team, which will take on Chinese Taipei in the Asia/Oceania Group I tie next year.
Mahesh Bhupathi may not be considered again for the job as India's non-playing captain after he refused to be part of the Davis Cup tie against Pakistan.
India's Davis Cup captain Mahesh Bhupathi refused to reveal the doubles combination for the Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan, asserting that focus should be on winning all the matches instead of obsessing over one.
Australian Open holder Djokovic will make his ATP Cup debut for Serbia against South Africa in Brisbane on Saturday while Nadal will lead Spain into action against Georgia in Perth on the same day.
The Indian Davis Cup team was staring at defeat at the zonal level for the first time in five years following shock defeats of Ramkumar Ramanathan and Sumit Nagal on the opening day of the second round tie against China, in Tianjin, on Friday.
Leander Paes is set to return to the Indian Davis Cup squad after making himself available for the upcoming tie against Pakistan as the country's top players and non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi have refused to travel to the neighbouring nation, citing security concerns.
India are due to be in Islamabad for the tie after the ITF allowed Pakistan the right to host the tie on September 14 and 15.
India will now face world number two Croatia for the Qualifiers in an away tie
The centre-back was at the Madrid Open earlier this week, reportedly to discuss a 16-team knockout tournament with ATP Tour chief Chris Kermode. It would potentially replace the former World Team Cup event on the ATP calendar that was played from 1975 to 2012 ahead of Roland Garros.
All eyes will be on veteran Leander Paes, who is the on the cusp of a historic world record in perhaps his last appearance in Davis Cup.
An Indian tennis team will travel to Pakistan after 55 years. The last time they sparred on Pakistan soil was way back in March 1964 in Lahore, where India won 4-0.
Djokovic says young rivals have awoken his inner 'beast'
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