Veteran Indian star Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek sailed into the Australian Open quarter-finals after a straight-set win over the unseeded pair of Yuki Bhambri and Michael Venus in the men's doubles competition in Melbourne on Sunday.
India's Davis Cup coach Zeeshan Ali on Sunday said it was good for home team players to have got the chance to test themselves in the tie against Chinese Taipei but felt that Saketh Myneni needs to develop fast as a big player if they are to win matches against tough opponents.
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.
Continuing his excellent run at the ATP Indore Open, Indian youngster Ramkumar Ramanathan toppled Chinese Taipei Davis Cupper Ti Chen in a marathon contest to reach his first-ever Challenger-level semi-final in Indore.
Paes was dropped from the tie against Uzbekistan last April. He has been out of favour since the Bengaluru fiasco when he was not included in the starting line-up by captain, Mahesh Bhupathi.
Leander Paes, partnering Rohan Bopanna, suffered a rare doubles defeat in the Davis Cup as Radek Stepanek and Adam Pavlasek gave Czech Republic a 2-1 lead over India in the World Group play-off tie, in New Delhi, on Saturday.
Rohan Bopanna secured a direct entry into the men's doubles at the Rio Olympics after officially returning to the top-10 in the ATP men's doubles rankings on Monday.
In Paes's absence, seasoned Rohan Bopanna and Saketh Myneni will do the doubles duty in the July 17-19 tie, to be held in Christchurch.
The top-ranked Indian will face American World No 39 Frances Tiafoe in the first round of the Australian Open
World No 10 Rohan Bopanna and Saketh Myneni suffered a shock straight set mauling at the hands of Artem Sitak and Marcus Daniell as India were left trailing 1-2 against New Zealand.
Bopanna being the highest-ranked doubles player in the country is automatic choice for the doubles rubber.
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.
'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.'
Playing only his second junior Grand Slam, 17-year-old won 7-5, 6-3
Bopanna also in reserves while four single specialists named in squad
Serbian Djokovic, 31, needed elbow surgery in February to cure a problem that surfaced in 2017, but after some jarring defeats he returned to the kind of domination he achieved in 2015, winning Wimbledon and the US Open.
An already depleted India suffered another blow on Saturday with Rohan Bopanna pulling out of the Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie against Spain, claiming that he suffered a knee injury during the US Open.
India's Saketh Myneni went down fighting to world No. 49 Jiri Vesely of Czech Republic in a five-set thriller in the first round of the men's singles at the 2016 US Open in New York, on Tuesday.
India were on Tuesday pitted against European powerhouse Spain as their Davis Cup World Group play-off opponents for the home tie as the International Tennis Federation announced the draw in London.
Nagal's court coverage and solid defence in long drawn points was the highlight of his win.
Coming into the tournament 21st in the WTA rankings, the Czech won 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 16 minutes to add to her triumph in St Petersburg earlier this month.
Tennis ace Sania Mirza expressed happiness over India winning five medals at the recently-concluded Asian Games at Incheon, although she felt many people did not expect them to do well with the team the country had sent.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
'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.
'In my eight ties as captain we won five and lost three to Serbia, Czech Republic and Spain who were all better teams than us. We should have won against Czech but lost 3-2. Having said that they were top 10 teams and I am not too unhappy losing to them'
In the absence of an injured Yuki, a lot would depend on how the left-handed Prajnesh, who won a singles bronze medal at the Asian Games, performs.
India's schedule for Thursday, the sixth day of competition at the Asian Games, in Incheon.
Zeeshan Ali, the captain and coach of the men's team, has no clue about Paes's arrival three days before the start of the competition on Sunday.
The Indian selectors reposed faith in Leander Paes as the 40-year-old veteran was on Saturday included in the Asian Games squad along with established stars Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna.
Top seeds Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis entered the final at the Madrid Open after a crushing 6-2, 6-0 victory over Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva on Friday. It is the second successive final for the Indo-Swiss pair following the runners-up finish in Stuttgart.
India's tennis legend Vijay Amritraj said that the country needs to develop quality singles players if it wants to be in the elite group in the world.
eander Paes will make yet another attempt to set a Davis Cup record for the most doubles victories when India takes on China in a new two-day format for a place in the World Group Play-offs, in Tianjin, China, on Friday.
Bindra realistic after the Haryanvi takes a set off Federer in US Open first round.
The Sports Ministry has chosen 152 athletes across disciplines for Rs. 50,000 allowance per month for their preparations for next year's Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The Indian Davis Cup team was staring at defeat at the zonal level for the first time in five years following shock defeats of Ramkumar Ramanathan and Sumit Nagal on the opening day of the second round tie against China, in Tianjin, on Friday.
Zeeshan Ali said Indian players are expected to do well in the World Group Play-off tie
India saw a day of mixed fortunes at the Australian Open on Saturday as both, Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna won their respective doubles and mixed doubles matches to enter the third round of the opening Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
India assured themselves of at least another silver medal in the 17th Asian Games after the trio of Abhishek Verma, Rajat Chauhan and Sandeep Kumar entered the final of the compound men's team archery event in Incheon on Thursday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.'
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