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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Newly-appointed Davis Cup captain Anand Amritraj is confident it will be "smooth sailing" for the Indian team in 2014.
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.
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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.
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In the women's competition, Minakshi began her campaign with a clean 5-0 win over Australia's Madeleine Bowen in the light flyweight division, while Muskan edged England's Kerry Davis 3-2 in a closely contested middleweight category bout.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
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.
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.
He said rather than think about what is stopping Indian players from making an impact in Grand Slams, the focus should be on doing well in the upcoming Davis Cup tie.
The selection committee has picked World No. 246 Prajnesh as Yuki's replacement as he is the next best singles ranked player.
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.
Juan Martin del Potro delivered a huge blow to Britain's hopes of retaining the Davis Cup when he beat Andy Murray 6-4, 5-7, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 in a five-hour thriller as Argentina grabbed a 2-0 lead in their world group semi-final on Friday.
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.
India's top tennis pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi on Saturday beat Japan's Thomas Shimada and Jun Kato 6-2 6-2 6-3.
Czech Republic's path to the Davis Cup final was wide open after they won the doubles on Saturday and Argentine Juan Martin del Potro pulled out of the reverse singles.
'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.
David Goffin put the visitors ahead by beating Lucas Pouille in the opening singles before Jo-Wilfried Tsonga levelled for 1-1 when he defeated Steve Darcis in the second singles on Friday.
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