Gael Monfils will get the chance to give France a flying start in this weekend's Davis Cup final against Serbia after Thursday's draw paired him against world number 49 Janko Tipsarevic in the opening singles. Serbia's world number three Novak Djokovic will take on Gilles Simon in the second singles on Friday.
Former Davis Cup captain Anand Amritraj is baffled that India's best singles players are not able to win close matches on the ATP World Tour despite having a decent game to back them.
In the semi-finals, Spain beat France while the United States accounted for Belarus.
Vishnu Vardhan scripted a clinical singles victory and then combined with Divij Sharan to win the heart-stopping doubles rubber as India's young guns lived up to the expectations by winning the Davis Cup Group 1 relegation play-off tie against New Zealand in Chandigarh on Saturday.
The Czech Republic beat holders Spain 3-2 to win the Davis Cup for the first time as an independent nation when Radek Stepanek overcame Nicolas Almagro in four tough sets before a raucous home crowd on Sunday.
The Czech Republic beat holders Spain 3-2 to win the Davis Cup for the first time as an independent nation when Radek Stepanek overcame Nicolas Almagro in four tough sets before a raucous home crowd on Sunday.
Early morning heavy showers delayed the start of the Davis Cup tie between India and New Zealand in Chandigarh on Friday.
With Andy Roddick retired, Mardy Fish unavailable and Spain apparently unbeatable at home on clay, the United States look distant second favourites when the two nations clash in the Davis Cup semi-final in Gijon starting on Friday.
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.
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.
Britain celebrated their first Davis Cup victory over the United States since 1935 when Andy Murray beat Sam Querrey 7-6, 6-7, 6-1, 6-3 on Sunday in the World Group first-round tie in San Diego.
Hosts Japan sailed into the Davis Cup quarter-finals for the first time with a 3-1 victory against injury-plagued Canada on Sunday.
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.
Bringing in his wealth of experience, Leander Paes combined with debutant Purav Raja to keep India afloat by winning the do-or-die doubles rubber against Korea on Saturday, but it will take a super heroic effort to save the hosts from a defeat in the Davis Cup tie.
Australia has pinned its hopes on ageing warhorse Lleyton Hewitt to steer the country back into the Davis Cup's world group, naming him in both singles and doubles for their playoff against Belgium in Cairns this week.
Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan blew away their chances in the must-win doubles match as India lost the World Group I tie to Finland after conceding an unassailable 0-3 lead, in Espoo on Saturday.
World No 7 Tomas Berdych will lead the Czech Davis Cup team in their semi-final clash against Argentina later this month.
The Japanese are not in the Indian capital with towering expectations or claims, they have lost 17 of the 20 Davis Cup ties against India, and don't have games tailor-made for the grass court.
India's Davis Cup captain will, however, not take New Zealand lightly in the weekend tie.
Somdev Devvarman had to dig deep into his reservoir of experience to tame a fighting Hyeon Chung, but Sanam Singh lost the second singles to Yong-Kyu Lim, leaving India and South Korea locked at 1-1 at the end of Day 1, in the second round Asia/Oceania Group I tie, in Busan, on Friday.
Tennis ace Rohan Bopanna, hockey great P R Sreejesh and table tennis legend Sharath Kamal, are gearing up for one last hurrah at the Asian Games, starting in Hangzhou, from September 23.
Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and Danielle Collins were among those to win their first-round matches at the Adelaide International
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
India will take on Davis Cup finalists Serbia in the opening round of next year's tournament. The Indians retained their place in the World Group -- having lost to Russia earlier in the year -- after a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Brazil in the play-off tie in Chennai last Sunday.
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.
Britain's Andy Murray believes Gala Leon's appointment as Spain's Davis Cup captain was handled "horribly".
'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.
World number five David Ferrer cruised to a 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 win over Tomas Berdych to put defending champions Spain level with the Czech Republic at 2-2 in the Davis Cup final on Sunday.
The Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych brought the hosts level at 1-1 with holders Spain in the Davis Cup final with a battling five-set victory over Nicolas Almagro on Friday.
Doubles specialists Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau combined to fire France into the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup Saturday with a battling four-set win over Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber and Christopher Kas in Toulon. The victory gave the nine-times winners an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the best-of-five tie and set up a last-eight clash against champions Spain or Switzerland in July.
Veteran Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna outclassed the Korean pair of Seong Chan Hong and Hong Chung in straight sets to guide India to the Davis World Group Play-offs as the hosts took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the Asia/Oceania Group I tie.
Nalbandian's spectacular performance in the Davis Cup final against Russia over the weekend suggests that he is ready to challenge the tennis elite.
Bob and Mike Bryan crushed Russians Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 to give the Americans an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the best-of-five match final.
In his place, Tommy Robredo has been called up alongside David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco.
Holders Spain were on the brink of elimination in the Davis Cup quarter-finals on Friday after France won both the opening singles in Clermont-Ferrand.
Veteran star Leander Paes is set to combine with Rohan Bopanna for the doubles rubber during the Davis Cup tie against Serbia, Indian captain Anand Amritraj confirmed today but he says nothing has been decided on the Asian Games squad as yet.
A look at the winners of the 89th Annual Academy Awards.
Igor Kunitsyn and Mikhail Youzhny gave Russia a 2-0 lead after victories over Somdev Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna respectively in the Davis Cup World Group first round tie in Moscow on Friday.