Rafael Nadal shrugged off a bout of jet-lag to beat Nicolas Kiefer 7-6, 6-0, 6-3 and give Spain a 1-0 lead over Germany in their Davis Cup quarter-final on Friday. Nadal, who flew in from Miami at the start of the week, made a sluggish start on the fast indoor hard court but managed to edge an 88-minute first set 7-5 on the tiebreak, after blowing a chance to serve for it at 5-4.
Ramkumar Ramanthan scored a fluent win after Yuki Bhambri eked out a straight set victory to hand India a commanding 2-0 lead against New Zealand on the opening day of the Asia/Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie, in Pune, on Friday.
Rafa Nadal thrashed Juan Monaco and David Ferrer rallied to fell Juan Martin Del Potro in five thrilling sets to give Spain a 2-0 lead over Argentina in the Davis Cup final on Friday that put the favourites on the brink of a fifth title.
Yuichi Sugita and Kei Nishikori helped Japan to a commanding 2-0 lead against India in the Davis Cup World Group Play-Off tie in Tokyo on Friday.
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.
While off-court battles over pay and governance rumbled on, opportunities were scarce beyond the duopoly at the top of the men's game, leaving Djokovic to provide the year's standout moments for the chasing pack.
Veteran tennis star Leander Paes was retained in the Indian Davis Cup team for next month's Asia/Oceania Zone tie against Uzbekistan.
Sumit Nagal won the second singles and then combined with Sahil Deshmukh to win the doubles as India defeated Argentina 2-1 for their first win the Junior Davis Cup final, in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
Roger Federer sealed Switzerland's place in the Davis Cup semi-finals when he completed a comeback win for the hosts over Kazakhstan on Sunday but Britain's last-four hopes were trampled into Italian clay in Naples.
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.
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.
Roared on by 17,000 partisan fans Novak Djokovic fired Serbia ahead in the Davis Cup final on Friday but Tomas Berdych hit back for the Czech Republic to leave the tie delicately poised going into the weekend.
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.
Ramkumar Ramanthan gave his all but it was not enough to stop Laslo Djere from winning his first Davis Cup match as India trail Serbia 0-1 in the World Group Play-off tie, in Kraljevo, Serbia, on Friday.
Newly-appointed Davis Cup captain Anand Amritraj is confident it will be "smooth sailing" for the Indian team in 2014.
With Yuki Bhambri and Somdev Devvarman still recovering from their respective injuries, India is set to field same set to players in the upcoming Davis Cup World Group Play-off against Spain, that beat South Korea 4-1 in July.
Andy Murray carried Britain to their first Davis Cup semi-final since 1981 after he beat France's Gilles Simon 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-0 on Sunday to give the hosts an unassailable 3-1 lead.
The crisis in Indian tennis deepened on Friday, with the revolting players threatening to pull out of the upcoming Davis Cup tie against South Korea unless the AITA discusses their "legitimate" suggestions to improve the system.
Marin Cilic completed a dream week by steering Croatia into the Davis Cup World Group on Sunday but Spain found themselves out in the wilderness after crashing to defeat in Brazil.
Downs Uzbek Isamilov in four-set thriller
The Davis Cup will remain an annual tournament despite persistent complaints from some players that it over-burdens an already-crowded schedule, the head of the sport's governing body said on Tuesday.
World number one Novak Djokovic shook off an eye infection to beat Kazakhstan's Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-1 6-2 6-3 in front of a passionate home crowd to give Serbia a 1-0 lead against Kazakhstan in their Davis Cup first-round tie on Friday. Djokovic, who was forced to retire with the problem from last week's Dubai Championships quarter-final against Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, showed no sign of problems as he brushed aside his opponent in the acoustic Pionir Arena. The 28-year-old from Belgrade delighted the home fans, who enjoyed a rare opportunity to watch him live because there are no major tour events in Serbia, with a barrage of sizzling winners, including some spectacular net points.
A total of 24 teams will play in the knockout Qualifiers on February 1 and 2 to decide which 12 teams will play the year-end Finals.
Somdev Devvarman took just eight minutes to complete the unfinished business as he beat Ti Chen 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-2, 9-7 in the second singles to put India 2-0 ahead in the Asia/Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie in Indore on Saturday.
The All India Tennis Association's selection committee retained all four playing members of the squad that beat Korea Korea 4-1 last month, for the Davis Cup World Group play-off tie against Spain, scheduled for September 16-18.
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
Dr Vece Paes, a member of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games bronze-winning Indian men's hockey team and father of legendary tennis player Leander Paes, died in Kolkata on Thursday morning.
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.
Leander Paes' hopes of creating a world record in Davis Cup were dashed when the veteran Indian and Vishnu Vardhan lost the third rubber to strong rivals Artem Sitak and Michael Venus, who kept the New Zealand alive in the Asia-Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie.
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.
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.
Australia Davis Cup captain Pat Rafter named three teenagers in his squad on Tuesday for their away tie against France, their first World Group appearance since 2007.
Hewitt has been reeled in as replacement for unwell Nick Kyrgios
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff and Tim Puetz pulled off a shock 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(4), 7-5 win over Spain's Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez to give Germany a 2-1 lead in their Davis Cup quarter-final on Saturday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
The Indian Davis Cup team entered the World Group playoffs after notching up a historic away triumph over Korea. The triumphant Indians will take on Serbia at home in the Davis Cup World Group play-offs to be held from September 12 to 14.
Britain's rise from embarrassing Davis Cup lightweights to title contenders has been nothing short of spectacular and they will begin slight favourites to reach a first final in 37 years against Australia on Friday.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic will miss Serbia's Davis Cup World Group playoff tie against India in Bangalore next weekend, the Balkan nation's coach Bogdan Obradovic said on Monday.
The selection committee has picked World No. 246 Prajnesh as Yuki's replacement as he is the next best singles ranked player.
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