An analysis of the disparities in India's sporting culture, highlighting the challenges faced by non-cricket athletes and the systemic changes needed for India to become a true sporting superpower.
India blunted Pakistan's challenge on the opening day to take a 2-0 lead in the Davis Cup World Group I play-off tie with Ramkumar Ramanathan and N Sriram Balaji rising to the occasion in the high-pressure contest, in Islamabad on Saturday.
Bernard Tomic ground down Jack Sock 7-6(2), 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to level Australia's Davis Cup first round tie with the United States at 1-1 in Melbourne on Friday.
India will now face world number two Croatia for the Qualifiers in an away tie
The former world number one returned to best-of-five-set tennis for the first time in 14 months at the US Open last week but, after hobbling to defeat in the second round, he decided to skip the Sept. 14-16 World Group playoff tie.
India's top singles player Yuki Bhambri and Asian Games gold-medallist Divij Sharan have pulled out of the Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie against Serbia due to injuries while Sumit Nagal has refused to join the team as a stand-by.
With a population of 156,000, Curacao is the least populous country to go to the World Cup, beating the previous record held by Iceland with its 350,000 inhabitants.
Spain's talisman Rafael Nadal sealed a sixth Davis Cup title for his country on Sunday when they beat Canada 2-0 in the final of the revamped event.
AITA said last week they had written to International Tennis Federation (ITF) asking them to shift the tie to a neutral venue
Ram Kumar Ramanathan will take on Seong-Chan Hong, ranked more than 200 places below him, in the first singles match of the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania group-I tie between India and South Korea starting in Chandigarh on Friday.
Ramkumar to play opening singles tie against Schnur, Yuki takes on Shapovalov on day 1
India's tennis legend Vijay Amritraj said that the country needs to develop quality singles players if it wants to be in the elite group in the world.
Sweden and Novak Djokovic's Serbia took the two best runners-up spots and a place in the last eight by virtue of their better match win-loss records among the second placed sides throughout the group stages.
The selection committee has picked World No. 246 Prajnesh as Yuki's replacement as he is the next best singles ranked player.
AITA brought back old warhorse Leander Paes in the Davis Cup team despite 'reservations' from seasoned campaigner Rohan Bopanna.
Juan Martin del Potro said on Monday he will not play in Argentina's Davis Cup playoff tie in September due to his differences with the Argentine Tennis Association (AAT).
Uzbekistan suffered a blow with their top player Denis Istomin ruled out of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1 tie against India due to a foot injury, on Tuesday.
Young Sumit Nagal showed spark in his game on Davis Cup debut before 'breathing problem' scuttled his victory march as India suffered a 5-0 whitewash at the hands of mighty Spain in the World Group Play-off tie, in New Delhi on Sunday. Up against the reigning Olympic and French Open doubles champion Marc Lopez, who does not play singles anymore, the 19-year-old Nagal dominated the proceedings under muggy conditions before losing 3-6 6-1 3-6 in the dead fourth rubber, that lasted more than two hours. It was a mountainous task for Ramkumar Ramanathan to prevent a clean sweep since he had world number 13 David Ferrer as his opponent. The Spaniard cruised to a 6-2 6-2 win to complete a dominating 5-0 win for his side even as Ramkumar fought his heart out, giving his all.
India's Davis Cup coach Zeeshan Ali on Sunday said it was good for home team players to have got the chance to test themselves in the tie against Chinese Taipei but felt that Saketh Myneni needs to develop fast as a big player if they are to win matches against tough opponents.
Agreeing to the popular demand from players, the All Indian Tennis Association on Wednesday selected Delhi as venue for the Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie against top seeds Czech Republic, to be held from September 18-20.
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.
Leander Paes, partnering Rohan Bopanna, suffered a rare doubles defeat in the Davis Cup as Radek Stepanek and Adam Pavlasek gave Czech Republic a 2-1 lead over India in the World Group play-off tie, in New Delhi, on Saturday.
Spain hope new world number one Carlos Alcaraz will be ready for their Davis Cup tie
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.
Leander Paes makes a return to the country's Davis Cup team as India named a four-member squad for the World Group play-off tie at home against top seeds Czech Republic from September 18-20.
A final decision is expected by March based on the hosting and COVID-19 contingency proposals received from bidders.
Teeanger Borna Coric completed an unlikely comeback for Croatia as the small Balkan nation beat the United States 3-2 in a Davis Cup quarter-final in Oregon on Sunday.
It ended a woeful few days for reigning champions Croatia. They left with two losses.
Germany captain Michael Kohlmann was pleased to make 'positive history' after their first win over France in 84 years.
As India gear up to host five-time champions Spain in a Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie, Saketh Myneni knows the enormity of the task at hand.
India were today drawn to play New Zealand at home in their next Davis Cup tie in the Asia/Oceania Group I competition, which is scheduled for February 3-5. It was after beating New Zealand 3-2 in an away tie that India qualified for the World Group Play-offs in 2015 season. India are back in the Asia Oceania zone after being whitewashed by five-time champions Spain in the World Group play-off tie.
The captain may be loathe to the idea, but the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association defended the decision to slot the Davis Cup tie against Spain in the evening, saying the aim is to make the event more accessible to tennis fans and save Indian players from cramping.
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.
France won their 10th Davis Cup title when Lucas Pouille crushed Steve Darcis 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 to give the hosts a 3-2 victory in the final against neighbours Belgium on Sunday.
Yuki Bhambri opted out of the upcoming Davis Cup match against Korea Republic after failing to recover from an elbow injury. His withdrawal will hand Ramkumar Ramanathan his debut in men's tennis' premier international team event.
Serbia carved out a 2-0 lead over rivals Croatia while Britain led the US by the same score and holders Switzerland were tied with Belgium in the Davis Cup.
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.
'The boys have hit a lot of balls and are feeling good, so we are looking forward to the weekend' The Indian team, which had a week-long training camp in New York before reaching Edmonton, is set to make a fourth consecutive attempt to qualify for the elite World Group.
Britain's Andy Murray believes Gala Leon's appointment as Spain's Davis Cup captain was handled "horribly".
Australia's bad boys of tennis Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic have been named in the Davis Cup squad for the World Group playoff against Slovakia after bowing out of the US Open in typical controversy.
