Sasikumar Mukund returned to Davis Cup action with a fluent straight-sets victory over lower-ranked Liova Ayite Ajavon, putting India ahead 1-0 in the World Group I play-off tie against Togo, in New Delhi, Saturday.
Outgoing Davis Cup captain S P Misra has said with quality players such as Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri in the team, India have a good chance to qualify for the World Group next year.
Ramkumar Ramanathan and N Sriram Balaji could play well only in patches to lose the do-or-die doubles against Andre Goransson and Filip Bergevi.
Sasikumar Mukund, who was banned by AITA on disciplinary grounds, is back as India's best-ranked player for the World Group I Play-off tie against Togo, starting on Saturday.
The All India Tennis Association (AITA) selection panel picked a five-member squad in which Mukund will be the highest-ranked singles player at number 368.
The last time an Indian Davis Cup team travelled to Pakistan was way back in 1964.
A dogged Somdev Devvarman scripted a spectacular win over South Africa's Rik De Voest in a high-voltage marathon five-setter to clear India's passage into the elite Davis Cup World Group after a long wait of 11 years in Johannesburg, on Sunday. Tenacity of Somdev and Voest engineered a prodigious tennis game which the Indian won 3-6, 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-4.
N Sriram Balaji was easily tamed by Elias Ymer, while Ramkumar Ramanathan went down to a lower-ranked Leo Borg as India were left trailing 0-2 against Sweden in the Davis Cup World Group I tie.
India will fight it out with South Africa to re-claim a berth in the Davis Cup World Group in an away play-off tie in September. India advanced to the play-off stage after Australia forfeited the Asia/Oceania Group I tie, to be held in Chennai, due to security concerns.
India were on Thursday drawn to meet Sweden in an away Davis Cup World Group I tie in September.
'She was brave. She didn't care a hoot. And India was not the strongest of nations as it is now.'
'She was brave. She didn't care a hoot. And India was not the strongest of nations as it is now.'
'But it's not something that I really focus on. That's not really my goal.'
Real Madrid hit their stride at the Club World Cup on Tuesday, edging Juventus 1-0 to reach the quarter-finals thanks to a second-half strike from academy graduate Gonzalo Garcia.
The Indian junior Fed Cup team has qualified for the World Group after finishing third in the Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying event following a 2-1 win over New Zealand in the Play-off, in New Delhi on Saturday.
The All India Tennis Association (AITA) on Tuesday suggested that the country's top player Sumit Nagal perhaps deliberately missed the Davis Cup tie against Sweden last week
India has never beaten Sweden in five attempts in the Davis Cup.
The Indian team had been relegated to the World Group II after losing 2-3 to Denmark in the World Group Play-Off earlier this year.
For the second consecutive Davis Cup tie, India are relying on doubles specialist N Sriram Balaji to do the singles duty
A summary of Friday's action in the Davis Cup group stage matches.
AITA names five-member Indian team for Davis Cup World Group 1 play-off away tie against Denmark
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.
The Indian Davis Cup team was relegated to the World Group II for the first time since the new format was launched in 2019 after losing the play-off tie 2-3 to Denmark.
Canada powered into the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup for the third straight year with a victory over Britain on Sunday.
India's top singles player Sumit Nagal on Friday returned to the Davis Cup team for the World Group I tie against Sweden but Yuki Bhambri has opted out of the September 14-15 contest,
The All India Tennis Association (AITA) on Tuesday sought the Sports Ministry's advice on the national team's travel to Pakistan for the Davis Cup World Group 1 Play-off tie against the neighbours at Islamabad in February next year.
The PTF chief said there was a deadline for the AITA to send final arrival confirmation and if they didn't travel to Pakistan the International Tennis Federation (ITF) would consider the Davis Cup tie as forfeited, awarding full points to the hosts.
A round-up of Friday's action in the Davis Cup.
'They should come to Pakistan. It's not fair that they do not come to Pakistan. The Indian team is much better than us. We have a beautiful hotel just across the stadium. If Indians come it will send a good message that we are good neighbours.'
India's top two singles players Sumit Nagal and Sasi Kumar Mukund have conveyed to the national tennis federation that they won't travel to Pakistan for the next Davis Cup tie.
Hauling itself up from World Group II should not be a complicated task for India when it takes on an unostentatious Morocco in the home tie, which will be more of a celebration of Rohan Bopanna's Davis Cup career.
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.
Rohan Bopanna revealed that he will bring curtains down on his Davis Cup career when the country hosts Morocco in September
India retained its place in the Asia/Oceania group Junior Davis Cup after thrashing Sri Lanka 3-0 in their last match of the World Group qualifying round in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Scripts win with Yuki Bhambri in final tie against Morocco.
The winner of the two-day rubber will qualify for the World Group I stage that is scheduled to take place later this year.
The All India Tennis Association claimed that Sumit Nagal demanded an annual fee of $50,000 to play Davis Cup ties for India.
The Chinese team were due to travel to Romania for a March 6-7 playoff but will be unable to do so due to "increased restrictions" in response to the outbreak, the ITF said in a statement on Twitter.
Davis Cup: Strong Indian team is firm favourite against Pakistan in historic clash
World No. 16 Marco Cecchinato will spearhead Italy's challenge, while they also have the experienced world No. 37 Andreas Seppi as they look to continue their good record against India.
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