India's number one tennis player Sumit Nagal is left with less than Rs one lakh in his bank account and a morose feeling of not leading a good life.
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.
For the second consecutive Davis Cup tie, India are relying on doubles specialist N Sriram Balaji to do the singles duty
Sumit Nagal lived a dream when he took on one of the greatest players of all time at a packed Arthur Ashe stadium in a US Open first-rounder.
A look at India's schedule at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, July 28, 2024:
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.
Top seed Prajnesh Gunneswaran booked a singles quarter-final berth at the Jinan Open with a hard-fought win over Chinese Taipei's Tung-Lin Wu.
'Even if we ate our chappatis with pickle, we ensured proper food for Sumit.'
Rafael Nadal trailed in the second set before overcoming No. 5 seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain.
Ramkumar, Poonacha and Saketh Myneni had a light session that lasted two and a half hours.
'To win a medal, the players will have to play a couple of tough rounds. The draws are fine, and balanced and give us the opportunity to go deep.'
'Right from 2002, making my debut and 22 years later still getting to represent India. I'm extremely proud of that.'
Former world champion weightlifter Mirabai Chanu's proposal to train in Paris ahead of the Olympic Games was on Monday cleared by the government.
India will send 117 athletes to the Paris Olympics, starting July 26 in the French capital. This will be India's second-biggest contingent at an Olympic Games after 121 athletes went to Tokyo in 2021. A total of 47 female and 70 male athletes will be part of the Indian contingent at the Games.
Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden barely broke a sweat in a straight-set victory over local hopes John Millman and Edward Winter at the Australian Open.
India were on Thursday drawn to meet Sweden in an away Davis Cup World Group I tie in September.
Both Balaji and Bhambri have got some decent results on clay in lead up to the Roland Garros, where the action will unfold during the Summer Olympics from July 27.
When contacted, AITA Secretary General Anil Dhupar said he does not have any objection to Bopanna playing with Balaji, ranked 84, at the Paris Olympics.
A look at how India's athletes fared on Day 2, on Sunday, July 28, 2024:
Rafael Nadal withdrew from Indian Wells on Wednesday on the eve of his first-round match.
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.
Novak Djokovic also surpassed Rafael Nadal to make a record 77 Masters 1000 semi-final appearances.
Here's your complete guide to when India's athletes compete at the Paris Olympics, with dates, events, and timings in IST.
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.
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.
Davis Cup: Ramkumar to lead Indian challenge against Pakistan on grass courts
The ITF tribunal has rejected AITA's contention that its Davis Cup team could face security concerns during the World Group I Play-off tie in Islamabad, paving the way for an Indian tennis team's visit to Pakistan for the first time in 60 years.
In singles, Sumit Nagal was placed at world No. 256 as the top-ranked Indian men's singles player in ATP Rankings, while Asian Games bronze medallist Ankita Raina was the best India women's singles player at world No. 212.
India's schedule at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, on Tuesday, September 26.
India's singles challenge at the US Open qualifiers came to an end as Yuki Bhambri was handed a straight-set defeat by Belgium's Zizou Bergs in the second round in New York.
Scripts win with Yuki Bhambri in final tie against Morocco.
AITA names five-member Indian team for Davis Cup World Group 1 play-off away tie against Denmark
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.
No.1 ranking will inspire 'Gen-Next' of Indian tennis, says Rohan Bopanna after achieving the feat
India's doubles specialist Rohan Bopanna, who failed to make the cut for the Tokyo Olympics along with Divij Sharan because of their low combined rank, on Monday accused All India Tennis Association (AITA) of misleading everyone by claiming it had changed the combination by pairing him with Sumit Nagal for a shot at qualification.
Sania Mirza and Sumit Nagal failed to make the cut for the mixed doubles event due to their low combined ranking of 153.
Rutuja Bhosale and Rohan Bopanna staged a great comeback after losing the first set to beat Chinese Taipei's combo of Tsung-hao Huang and En-shuo Liang in the final.
India raced to a 2-0 lead in their Davis Cup tie
Following is the schedule of Indian contingent on day six of the Asian Games:
India's Nagal draws world No 128 Bradley Klahn in opener.
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