Seasoned pros Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi showed their class and chemistry by recording a clinical win over Igor Kunitsyn and Teimuraz Gabashvili to keep India's chances alive in the Davis Cup World Group tie against Russia in Moscow on Saturday.
Twenty-times Grand Slam champion Federer has said that he is unlikely to play in the new-look tournament, spearheaded by Barcelona player Pique's investment group Kosmos.
Andy Murray remains committed to playing a full part in Great Britain's Davis Cup defence despite the prospect of a packed schedule hampering the world number two's chances of leading the side to a repeat triumph.
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.
India suffered a 0-3 drubbing at the hands of sixth seeds China to slump to their second consecutive defeat in the Junior Davis Cup Asia/Oceania qualifying round on Tuesday.
The Spanish world number two pulled out of the opening rubber of his country's Davis Cup World Group first round tie with Switzerland after straining a muscle in training.
Victor Hanescu mercilessly crushed India's hopes to make the Davis Cup World Group as he knocked out Prakash Amritraj in the first reverse singles to give Romania an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match playoff tie in Bucharest on Sunday.
The April 4-6 match will be held at the lush green grass courts of the Calcutta South Club.
Doubles specialist Wesley Moodie was named in South Africa's five-member squad for the Davis Cup World Group play-off tie against India, from September 18 to 20, in Johannesburg.
Spain, Sweden and Argentina reached the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup after sealing World Group first round victories with a minimum of fuss on Saturday.
India ended Day 1 in the Davis Cup World Group play-off tie against Brazil down 0-2 after Rohan Bopanna and Somdev Devvarma lost the opening singles, at the Nungambakkam stadium on Friday.
India's non-playing captain Anand Amritraj was upbeat ahead of the Asia Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie against New Zealand, to be played in Pune from February 3 to 5, but cautioned the Kiwis should not be taken lightly.
The Spanish tennis federation (RFET) said on Thursday it had decided not to extend the contract of Davis Cup captain Alex Corretja when it expires at the end of this year but has yet to name a successor.
Canada raced to a 2-0 lead over Spain in their Davis Cup world group first round tie on Friday, pushing the five-times champions to the brink of defeat and moving to within a doubles victory of a maiden win at this level.
Roger Federer suffered defeat for the second day in succession as United States completed a surprisingly comfortable victory over Switzerland in the Davis Cup World Group first round in Fribourg on Saturday.
'We are not interested in forfeiting the tie. We look forward to working with the ITF to find a solution that guarantees the safety of all the players'
Top seeds Spain crashed out of the first round of the Davis Cup for the first time since 2006 when Milos Raonic beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez to give Canada an unassailable 3-1 lead in their world group tie on Sunday.
The world number one has been struggling with tendinitis in his knees since being knocked out of the French Open last month and was forced to miss Wimbledon.
No Indian Davis Cup squad has travelled to Pakistan since March 1964 and in that tie, held in Lahore, India had won 4-0.
Returning to the elite World Group of Davis Cup after 11 years, an acid test awaits India when they take on formidable Russia in their first round tie in Moscow on Friday.
Switzerland face the 2007 winners from March 6 to 8 in a tie that could feature the world's No 1-ranked doubles pair, and the Olympic gold medal winning pair. In another fascinating tie, the 2008 finalists Spain will host Serbia, which could see world number one Rafael Nadal facing No 3 Novak Djokovic.
"I think especially Rafa playing singles and doubles almost every day, he's been our MVP this week," Lopez said.
Sumit Nagal had to be content with a runner-up finish at the ATP Tulln Challenger event after losing the singles title clash in straight sets to Czech Republic's Vit Kopriva, in Tulln on Sunday.
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.
The ever reliable combine of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi ensured India's interest in the Davis Cup World Group play-off in Chennai remained alive with a straight sets win over the Brazilian combine of Bruno Soares and Marcelo Melo on Saturday.
Conchita Martinez will take over as Spain's Davis Cup captain for the Group I tie away to Russia.
US Open finalist Rohan Bopanna will not figure in doubles in the Davis Cup World Group play-off against Brazil, beginning in Chennai on Friday, as the team has decided to stick with the tried and tested duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi.
Spain shrugged off the absence of Rafa Nadal to take a 2-0 lead over hosts the United States in their Davis Cup World Group quarter-final after gutsy wins by Feliciano Lopez and David Ferrer on Friday.
World number two Novak Djokovic fired Serbia to a 2-0 lead over the United States in Belgrade with a 6-2, 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Sam Querrey, after compatriot Viktor Troicki's hard-fought win over John Isner, also in four sets.
Britain reached the Davis Cup quarter-finals in bizarre circumstances on Sunday when Canadian Denis Shapovalov defaulted for inadvertently blasting a ball into the umpire's face.
Proposals to revamp the Davis Cup into a season-ending 18-team event were backed by national federations at the International Tennis Federation annual general meeting in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday.
World No 10 Rohan Bopanna and Saketh Myneni suffered a shock straight set mauling at the hands of Artem Sitak and Marcus Daniell as India were left trailing 1-2 against New Zealand.
Benoit Paire made a remarkable Davis Cup debut for France, outplaying Pablo Carreno-Busta 7-5, 6-1, 6-0 in the opening rubber of the World Group semi-final tie against Spain at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Friday.
India, with players of the caliber of Sumit Nagal, Ramkumar Ramanathan and veteran Leander Paes, were already expected to win easy but pulling out of Pakistan top players Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Aqeel Khan has made it a no-contest.
In a bold decision, Underdogs India have preferred Ramkumar Ramanathan over No. 1 singles player Sumit Nagal for their Davis Cup qualifier against top seeds Croatia, beginning in Zagreb on Friday.
champion Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth combined to defeat Kazakhstan in their Davis Cup doubles tie on Saturday and keep Australia's semi-final hopes alive.
Goffin's 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 triumph in front of a boisterous home crowd gave Belgium a 3-1 lead and sent them into a home semi-final against Australia who also wrapped up victory over the United States thanks to Nick Kyrgios's defeat of Sam Querrey.
Images from Day one of the 2019 Davis Cup at La Caja Magica in Madrid on Monday
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.
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