If the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decides to follow the recommendations on reforms suggested by the Justice RM Lodha committee, one could soon find stadiums in Pune, Nagpur, and Rajkot hosting Indian hockey team's 'Test' matches or tennis team's Davis Cup games.
The five-week long tennis crisis ended as all the 11 rebel players made themselves available for the tie against Indonesia, a day after All India Tennis Association gave all the assurances with regard to Davis Cup playing conditions in writing.
Having lost both the singles on the opening day, the Yuki-Saketh pair did put up a fight before losing to the fancied Norwegian duo in an hour and 50 minutes.
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.
Indian Davis Cup team capped its historic visit to Pakistan after 60 years by sealing its place in World Group I as it blanked Pakistan 4-0 with Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni recording a comfortable victory and Niki Poonacha making a winning debut, in Islamabad on Sunday.
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.
The move is designed to favour 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt and this year's runner-up Mark Philippoussis.
The new president of the Spanish tennis federation (RFET) has fired the nation's first female Davis Cup captain, Gala Leon, two weeks before the Group I second-round tie away to Russia.
Russia, losing finalists to the US last year, also went 2-0 up on day one, helped by misfortune in the Serbian camp.
Mahesh Bhupathi said he has no 'personal agenda' in keeping Leander Paes out of India's Davis Cup team and said his former partner's decision to leave Bangalore mid-way into the tie was a final nail in the coffin.
India will host Uzbekistan on the hard courts of Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) in Bangalore when the two sides clash in an Asia Oceania Zone group I Davis Cup tie in April.
'But it's not something that I really focus on. That's not really my goal.'
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.
Serbian world number two Novak Djokovic forced the Davis Cup final against holders Czech Republic into a decisive fifth rubber on Sunday with a 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-2 win over Tomas Berdych in the opening reverse singles.
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.
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.
Spain booked their place in the Davis Cup semi-finals against France after taking an unbeatable 3-1 lead over the United States Sunday.
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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.
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.
Veteran tennis star Leander Paes was retained in the Indian Davis Cup team for next month's Asia/Oceania Zone tie against Uzbekistan.
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.
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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.
