Spain overcame the absence of world number one Rafael Nadal to clinch the Davis Cup on Sunday when Fernando Verdasco beat Jose Acasuso to give them a 3-1 win over Argentina in the final. Verdasco, brought in to replace Spain's off-form number one David Ferrer, won 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to hand Argentina their third defeat in three final appearances and their first home loss for 10 years.
Switzerland's former world number one Roger Federer will join Australian Open winner Stanislas Wawrinka in their Davis Cup first-round tie against Serbia next weekend.
India was handed an easy draw for next year's Davis Cup campaign in Asia/Oceania Group I, pitted against Chinese Taipei in their first round tie.
Andy Roddick will lead the United States against 2006 champions Russia in this month's Davis Cup final.
India's Davis Cup captain Leander Paes admitted there are egos to be handled in the team but expressed confidence that his boys will come out trumps in the match against Japan.
"He's got a severe strain in the area between the calf and the Achilles' tendon in his left leg," federation doctor Angel Ruiz-Cotorro told the RFET Web site.
Wimbledon champion Andy Murray says he is unlikely to play in Britain's Davis Cup quarter-final clash in Serbia this weekend but could travel to Belgrade in support of the team.
Divij Sharan, who was a reserve in the Indian Davis Cup team, has decided not to travel for the away tie against China, a move which may soon pave the way for introduction of a code of conduct for players.
Leonardo Mayer beat Joao Souza in a Davis Cup singles match that lasted a record six hours and 42 minutes.
The tie will be played on a hard court indoor surface with the roof closed.
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.
Andy Murray's dedication to the Davis Cup has proved invaluable to the British team, but it may also rob the ATP Tour Finals of one of it's biggest draws this year.
World No 6 Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek will spearhead the Czech team when they take on Davis Cup holders Spain in this month's final in Prague.
Serbia have been drawn in Group B alongside Spain, South Korea and Canada.
Australia's John Blom is the neutral umpire and India's Punit Gupta the chair umpire for the April 7-9 Davis Cup zonal play-off encounter.
The Indian team is staring at a heavy defeat in its Davis Cup World Group first round tie after conceding a 0-2 lead to hosts Norway following Ramkumar Ramnathan's loss to Viktor Durasovic in the second singles in Lillehammer, Norway.
Switzerland won home advantage in the first-round draw and are likely to opt for a fast court to counteract the claycourt supremacy of the Spanish.
Top singles player Yuki Bhambri on Monday returned to the Indian Davis Cup team along with Saketh Myneni even as veteran Leander Paes was expectedly dropped from the squad for the tie against Canada next month.
His recent success on the ITF circuit on Tuesday fetched teenage sensation Yuki Bhambri a place in the Indian Davis Cup squad for the crucial World Group play-off tie against South Africa scheduled September 18 to 20.
Rafael Nadal to play against Ram Kumar Ramanathan on the first day of their Davis Cup World Group play-off tie in New Delhi on Friday.
The world number one confirmed he would play for Switzerland against Britain in the World Group play-off in September.
Ageing tour warrior Lleyton Hewitt ushered Australia into the Davis Cup semi-finals on Sunday, trouncing Aleksandr Nedovyesov 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-3 in the decisive singles rubber against Kazakhstan.
Raucous home support for holders Argentina did not make up for the absence of Juan Martin del Potro and Federico Delbonis on Friday as they fell 2-0 behind to Italy in the first round of the Davis Cup.
Tennis Australia has filed an appeal against the International Tennis Federation's decision to approve Chennai as the venue for next month's India-Australia Asia/Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie. The ITF will hear the appeal later this week and decide on Tennis Australia's request to shift the tie out of India on security grounds. It had cleared Chennai as the host city despite the Australian federation's concerns about coming to India.
The Indian tennis association is refusing to be held to ransom by regular Davis Cup players, who have hinted at a possible boycott if their demands for a greater involvement in the running of the team are not met.
Former world number one Pat Rafter has been named Australia's Davis Cup coach and is tasked with leading the once-great tennis nation back to the pinnacle of the sport.
Croatia and Argentina reached the Davis Cup quarter-finals on Saturday, winning in doubles to take unassailable 3-0 leads over Chile and Netherlands respectively. Seven times champions Sweden took a 2-1 lead over Israel with doubles victory for Robert Lindstedt and Simon Aspelin over Andy Ram and Amir Hadad.
Not used to playing singles anymore, India's Rohan Bopanna found rhythm in nick of time to edge past Hong Chung before Yong-Kyu Lim prevented a Korean whitewash with a gritty win over Ramkumar Ramanathan in the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group I tie, in Chandigarh, on Sunday.
Veteran pairing Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut booked France's place in another Davis Cup final as they won the doubles to seal the champions' 3-0 victory over Spain in their World Group semi-final on Saturday.
Yuki Bhambri returned to Davis Cup action with a commanding victory while Ramkumar Ramanathan did not even need his 'A game' to emerge victorious as India grabbed a 2-0 lead in the World Group I Play-off tie against Denmark, in New Delhi, on Friday.
Spain's Carlos Moya has decided to skip the men's team competition to focus on the Grand Slam tournaments and the Masters Cup.
Roger Federer has confirmed that he will play in Switzerland's Davis Cup playoff tie away to Netherlands at the weekend, the Swiss Tennis Federation said on Tuesday.
Leander Paes has vowed to show his rookie teammates the way in order to help them make a worthy debut for India in the upcoming Davis Cup tie against South Korea, but acknowledged the task ahead is 'tough'.
Top doubles player Mahesh Bhupathi has opted out of India's Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan next month to allow tour partner Rohan Bopanna pair with Leander Paes, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) announced on Tuesday.
Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan saved three match-points in an edge-of-the-seat thriller to prevail over a fighting Danish pair of Frederik Nielsen and Mikael Torpegaard as India kept its place in the Davis Cup World Group I by taking an unassailable 3-0 lead in the Play-off tie, in New Delhi, on Saturday.
David Ferrer crushed Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 to fire depleted champions Spain into the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup on Sunday and set up a clash away to nine-times winners France.
Leander Paes made a return while Yuki Bhambri was left out of a five-member Indian squad picked for the Davis Cup World Group first round tie against Russia in Moscow from March 5-7.
Andy Murray beat Belgium's David Goffin 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 to seal Britain's first Davis Cup triumph for 79 years on Sunday in the Flanders Expo in Ghent.
Shaik Abdullah and Fatehdeep Singh came a cropper in the decisive doubles rubber as India lost the opening tie on the junior Davis Cup Asia/Oceania qualifying round 1-2 to fourth seed Chinese Taipei in Delhi on Monday.
Veteran doubles specialist Mahesh Bhupathi made a comeback for national duty as a five-member Indian team for the Asia-Oceania Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan was announced in New Delhi on Tuesday.
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