Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Sumit Nagal is the only Indian in the men's field with Prajnesh Gunneswaran, ranked 132, missing out.
Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Ramkumar Ramanathan will lead the singles challenge, while Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan will make the doubles pair for the grass court tie.
Since Yuki Bhambri, ranked 94, is likely to make the cut for the US Open, the AITA selection committee exempted him.
India's Rohan Bopanna joined forces with Marcin Matkowski to reach the doubles semi-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Shapovalov pulls out of French Open.
Ruthless Ruud topples Shapovalov to win Geneva Open.
Indian tennis legend Leander Paes is set to play his last tournament on home soil as he was on Saturday handed a wild card entry in doubles for the third edition of Tata Open Maharashtra, beginning in Pune from February 3. The 46-year-old Paes and his partner Australian Mathew Ebden will face the pair of Divij Sharan and New Zealand's Artem Sitak in the first round.
Yuki Bhambri's maiden appearance at the French Open ended with a first round defeat as he lost his opening men's singles match to Belgium's Ruben Bemelmans in straight sets, in Paris, on Tuesday.
Sumit Nagal made a comeback to the Indian Davis Cup team for the away World Group I tie against Norway while doubles specialist Divij Sharan was dropped after falling behind in the pecking order, on Thursday.
Djere is ranked higher than Ramkumar at number 86 but is yet to win a match in Davis Cup. On the other side, Ramkumar is placed 135 in the world but is far more experienced, having played six ties with a 7-5 Win-Loss record.
Keeping in mind Italians' weakness on grass, India have opted for grass courts in South Club here for the February 1-2 fixtures which will be played in new format with the winners making a cut to the 18-nation finals in Madrid next year.
Thursday's match was just Venus Williams's seventh of the year and first since January's Australian Open, where she fell to Simona Halep in the round of 32.
Doubles exponent Rohan Bopanna retained his place in India's Davis Cup team despite his recent run-in with the national federation, which named a five-member squad for the upcoming World Group I away tie against Finland.
India's number one player Prajnesh Gunneswaran, who achieved career-high 102 ranking this week, has been drawn against 22-year-old debutant Matteo Berrettini in the second singles rubber at the Calcutta South Club grass courts.
India's Davis Cup Captain Mahesh Bhupathi picked Rohan Bopanna for the Davis Cup match against Uzbekistan in Bengaluru.
After being left out of the Davis Cup for the first time in 27 years, an angry Paes had on Thursday lashed out at Bhupathi, accusing his former partner of flouting selection criteria.
Appearing in her third grand slam qualifiers, Ankita (ranked 205) got the better of Frenchwoman Myrtille Georges 6-2, 6-2 in her opening round.
His dream of being inside the global top-100 has been realised but Sumit Nagal is nowhere close to being a content man as the Indian tennis ace says he now faces the challenge of improving or holding on to his standing for direct entry into Grand Slams and the Paris Olympics.
India's top-ranked singles player Ramkumar Ramanathan, of late, has developed a decent serve and volley game and comeback-man Yuki Bhambri is also comfortable playing on grass courts.
AITA pairs him with Bopanna, withdraws Sharan
Earning a dream Grand Slam debut for himself, Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal set up a US Open first round clash against the legendary Roger Federer, one of the greatest players of all-time, on Monday.
Leander Paes became the most successful player in the history of Davis Cup as he combined with Rohan Bopanna to not only grab a record 43rd win but also bring India back in tie against China, in Tianjin, on Saturday.
India's Sumit Nagal put up a strong fight before going down in three sets to Serbian Vicktor Troicki in the men's singles opening round in the third edition of the Tata Open Maharashtra, in Pune, on Monday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on on Thursday
India's leading players Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Sumit Nagal lost in the pre-quarter-finals, ending India's challenge in the men's singles, of the Bengaluru Open, in Bengaluru, on Thursday.
AITA usually names five-member squad apart from one or two reserve players.
While tennis is a lucrative sport for those at the top -- the 2020 Australian Open singles champions each took home A$4.12 million ($2.52 million) -- those in the lower echelons often struggle to make ends meet.
Earlier this year, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira took the honors in a halftime show of girl power and Latina strength. Previous performers have included Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Prince and the Rolling Stones.
India's tennis players -- both current and former -- are not just counting financial losses as they cope with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The closure of the Pro Tour means that doubles exponent Purav Raja is set to lose at least $50,000 in this lockdown period, according to his own assessment. Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Divij Sharan can't exactly tell how much they would lose but considering the fact that they are consistently in contention to be in Grand Slam main draws, the massive financial hit is not difficult to assess.
However, Ramkumar Ramanathan and Ankita Raina's campaign ended in the first round itself.
World No 15 India will now compete in the Zone Group action later this year.
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.
Rohit Rajpal will continue as India's non-playing captain. He took over as captain last year after the country's top players and then captain Mahesh Bhupathi refused to travel to Pakistan in November. India is scheduled to travel to Croatia for their next tie on March 6 and 7.
Nagal, who has played his best tennis this season, sent a confirmation to the All India Tennis Association (AITA) on Thursday night while Ramkumar had conveyed his availability a few days ago.
Halep sustained the injury last month while training for the Wuhan Open, where she lost in the second round. She then retired midway through her opener in Shanghai.
Mahesh Bhupathi rued that his men failed to seize the opportunities against a much higher-ranked Italy
Paes said he was pleased to see the manner in which Nagal handled himself against a great like Federer.
Leander Paes is set to return to the Indian Davis Cup squad after making himself available for the upcoming tie against Pakistan as the country's top players and non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi have refused to travel to the neighbouring nation, citing security concerns.
Leander Paes might team up with Ramkumar Ramnathan instead of Sumit Nagal in this month's Asian Games after captain Zeeshan Ali said he will consider the ATP World Tour finalist's request to pair up with the senior pro.
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