Leander Paes made a return while Yuki Bhambri was left out of a five-member Indian squad picked for the Davis Cup World Group first round tie against Russia in Moscow from March 5-7.
Russian top seed Nikolay Davydenko will start favourite in the singles while Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will shoulder local hopes in doubles as the US $450,000 Chennai Open, featuring one of the strongest singles field this year, kicks off in Chennai on Monday. The crowd will see a range of international stars including seven top-50 players competing for the top honour with Swiss Olympic champion Stanislas Wawrinka also throwing his hat in the ring.
'I would love to win five or six more Grand Slams. I would love to take part in my sixth Olympics,' the Indian ace declared at a media interaction in Bangalore on Wednesday.
The Indian challenge at the 2010 Chennai Open came to an end on Saturday with Somdev Devvarman and Sanam Singh crashing out of the men's doubles in the semi-finals. The experienced pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, seeded third, had lost a day earlier.
Indian wild card entrants Somdev Devvarman and Sonam Singh gave enough proof that they are in the mould of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi when it comes to doubles, as they won the first round main draw tie, beating the seasoned Russian-American duo of Rik De Voest and Scott Lipsky at the ATP Chennai Open on Monday night.
Somdev Devvarman was the main protagonist in a stunning tale of success as Indian tennis savoured some great and rare moments in 2009, a year which promised to change the face of the game in the country. From junior stage to the highest level of the game, India had its moments of ecstasy and exultation as as Somdev, Sania Mirza, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and teenager Yuki Bhambri all contributed to the success story.
The Dhirubhai Ambani International School's annual day was a starry affair.
Sania Mirza, who is teaming up with Israeli Shahar Peer, is seeded 16th in the ladies championships at Wimbledon.
Leander Paes and his partner Lukas Dlouhy rounded off their disappointing campaign at the season ending World Tour Finals with their third successive defeat in London on Friday.
Prakash Amritraj will take on Adrian Cruciat in the opening rubber while the in-form Somdev Devvarman faces Romanian No 1 Victor Hanescu in the crucial World Group play-off tie, in Bucharest, which commences on Friday. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi meet Cruciat and Horia Tecau in the doubles.
Despite putting up one of his best performances of the season, Somdev Devverman dropped eight places to 124th in the ATP rankings issued on Monday.
International Premier Tennis League founder Mahesh Bhupathi, one of India's most successful doubles player, confirmed the absence of the two star players.
Somdev Devvarman continued his march towards the top-100 mark as he bettered his career-best ranking by gaining five places to reach 116th in the latest ATP list.
It left the players and the team management disappointed and after discussing the matter among themselves, they have decided to approach the federation.
Rain played spoilsport to drop early curtains on the men's doubles quarterfinals match with the Indian pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi trailing 1-4 to the Swiss duo of Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka in the Beijing Olympics on Thursday night.
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza was handed a tough draw at the Beijing Olympics. She is drawn against Czech nemesis Iveta Benesova in the opening round. The men's doubles pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, however, got a relatively better deal. The 'Indian Express' will kicking-off their campaign against the French pair of Gael Monfils and Gilles Simons on Sunday.
Indian Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna and his American partner James Cerretani crashed out of the $ 2,615,000 Cincinnati Masters tournament after suffering a straight sets defeat in the first round.
India's new hero Somdev Devvarman climbed up two places to 131 in the latest ATP rankings while Sania Mirza dropped two spots to 65 in the WTA list.
Reader Namit sent us this picture from Melbourne.
The second-seeded mixed doubles combination of Mahesh Bhupathi and Shikha Uberoi were knocked out in the first round.
Third seeds Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi earned a shot at their third title of the season as they set up the summit-clash of the ATP Aegon Championships against Mike and Bob Bryan in London.
The Indo-Australian pair beat Argentine duo David Nalbandian and Sebastian Prieto 6-4, 6-3 in the first round.
The Indian tennis contingent arrived in Doha for the Asian Games minus Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi.
Paes and Black, who won the US Open mixed doubles title last year, were clearly the better pair in a rare match and also took advantage of the unforced errors committed by their opponents.
"He's a good player but we've played with each other so much. I think we have a really good shot," Prakash Amritraj said about their chance of winning the match against Bhupathi and his partner.
Leander Paes and his Australian partner Paul Hanley warded off the challenge of Argentina's David Nalbandian and Guillermo Canas to enter the doubles quarter-finals at the Pacific Life Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells. The eighth seed Indo-Australian pair beat the Argentine duo 7-5, 2-6, 10-5 in the second round.
The Indian players received two of the allotted three wild cards for the ATP event in Mumbai.
Reader Saurav Sachdev sent us a picture of Sania Mirza from Melbourne.
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi survived their respective tough first rounds to advance at the Australian Open.
The doubles specialist made the team at the expense of Prakash Amritraj, who was rendered ineligible after the new sports policy that bars foreign passport holders from representing the country. Amritraj holds a United States passport.
Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh is close to sealing a deal with tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi's sports marketing agency Globosport after his seven-year contract with Percept Talent Management ends in a few weeks. The move could prompt Percept taking Yuvaraj Singh to court because it is believed to have the first right to refusal to match the Globosport offer.
Indian sportspersons will be in action in the following events at 28th Olympic Games in Athens on Monday.
Leander Paes and his American partner Scott Lipsky advanced to the finals of ATP Heiniken Open in Auckland, New Zealand but it was curtains for Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles at the Sydney International after they lost in the doubles semi-finals on Friday.
Tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi's company allied with athletes1 to identify playing opportunities for cricketers.
A wrist injury could keep the Indian ace out of next week's WTA tournament.
The Indian retired midway through his first round match against seventh seed Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
The Indo-Czech duo advanced after fifth seeds Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyet withdrew while trailing 3-5 in the first set.
The second highest-ranked Indian on the circuit is now perched at 262.
Sania Mirza and Shikha Uberoi were named in the Fed Cup tie against Korea
Sania Mirza and Shikha Uberoi were named in the Fed Cup tie against Korea
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