Zeeshan Ali said Indian players are expected to do well in the World Group Play-off tie
Sanam Singh qualified for the men's singles main draw of the Asia-Pacific Australian Open wild card play-off tournament after edging past Yuqing Ning in a tough three-setter and entered the doubles quarter-finals with compatriot N Sriram Balaji Nanjing on Wednesday.
World champion PV Sindhu made an early exit from the China Open but B Sai Praneeth kept the Indian flag fluttering with a hard-fought straight-game win to reach the men's singles quarter-finals.
Top seed Somdev Devvarman struggled past Ramkumar Ramanathan, who was troubled by cramps, but Yuki Bhambri made a fluent start with a straight sets victory in the US$ 50,000 ATP Challenger event, in Chennai.
It will be the beginning of a new era in Indian tennis when a young Davis Cup team, sans all the proven stars, battles it out against New Zealand to stay in the Asia Oceania Group I.
Japan produced the first upset of the Olympic Games when they beat potential gold medallists Spain 1-0 at Hampden Park, Glasgow on the opening day of the men's soccer competition on Thursday.
India salvaged some pride by winning the two inconsequential reverse singles to reduce their margin of defeat against Uzbekistan to 2-3 in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I second round tie in Namangan (Uzbekistan) on Sunday.
Davis Cupper Vishnu Vardhan and talented teenager Yuki Bhambri were awarded wild cards by the organisers of the Aircel Chennai Open, ensuring that at least three local players will compete in the singles draw of the country's only ATP Tour event. India's number one player Somdev Devvarman gets a direct entry into the main draw on the basis of his ranking. Promising Belgian David Goffin is the third player to get a wild card for the event, starting January 2 at the SDAT
Expected to be called-up if the All India Tennis Association decides to send two men's doubles teams to the Olympics in its bid to resolve the selection crisis, Vishnu Vardhan said he is ready for the challenge.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Vijay Sundar Prasanth made it to the main draw joining compatriots Somdev Devvarman and Ramkumar Ramanthan.
Holder and World number 17 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland faces a daunting task to retain his title as the 17th edition of ATP Chennai Open unfolds, on Monday, promising a keen tussle among top players.
None of the remaining three Indians, including Rohan Bopanna, could make the main singles draw of the Aircel Chennai Open. All of them suffered defeats in the second round of the qualifying event, on Sunday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
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.
An American woman had not won the historic race since Lisa Larsen Weidenbach in 1985.
Third seed Vishnu Vardhan upset top seed Yuki Bhambri to set up a title-clash with qualifier Jeevan Nendunchezhiyan, in the US $15,000 Solaris ITF men's Futures Tennis Championships in Pune on Friday. Vardhan avenged his defeat at the hardcourt Nationals by scraping past title-favourite Bhambri 2-6, 7-6(5), 7-5, while Jeevan made it to the final after his opponent, sixth seed Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan, retired with a shoulder injury at 3-6, 6-4.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Following his maiden appearance at the US Open, Saketh Myneni achieved a career-high rank of 137 in singles in the latest list, issued by the ATP.
Indian wildcard entrant Yuki Bhambri shocked higher ranked Karol Beck of Slovakia 6-2, 6-3 to make the second round of the ATP Aircel Chennai Open tennis tournament on Monday.
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.
The All India Tennis Association's selection committee retained all four playing members of the squad that beat Korea Korea 4-1 last month, for the Davis Cup World Group play-off tie against Spain, scheduled for September 16-18.
The 28-year-old from Hyderabad, a winner of the Indonesia Masters, semi-finalist at Malaysia Masters and quarter-finalist at the All England Championship, saw US$36,825 added to her career earnings.
Ramkumar Ramanthan scored a fluent win after Yuki Bhambri eked out a straight set victory to hand India a commanding 2-0 lead against New Zealand on the opening day of the Asia/Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie, in Pune, on Friday.
Marin Cilic completed a dream week by steering Croatia into the Davis Cup World Group on Sunday but Spain found themselves out in the wilderness after crashing to defeat in Brazil.
Bindra realistic after the Haryanvi takes a set off Federer in US Open first round.
India's Saketh Myneni literally beat Serbian Pedja Kristin 6-3, 6-0 in only 56 minutes to earn his maiden entrance into the men's singles event of the upcoming US Open.
Sumit Nagal entered the history books as only sixth Indian to win a Grand Slam junior title after winning the boys doubles trophy at the Wimbledon Championships with partner Nam Hoang Ly on Sunday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
After stunning top seed Karan Rastogi on Thursday, sixth seed Yuki Bhambri turned giant-killer, scalping No 4 Gero Kretschmer of Germany in straight sets, to storm into the final of the CCI-ITF US$15,000 Men's Futures tennis tournament at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai on Friday.
Top seed Karan Rastogi and No 6 Yuki Bhambri, both of India, registered comfortable second round victories to ease into the quarter-finals of the CCI-ITF US$15,000 men's Futures tennis tournament at the Cricket Club of India, in Mumbai, on Wednesday.
Top seed Karan Rastogi and No. 6 Yuki Bhambri, both of India, registered comfortable second round wins to ease into the quarter-finals of the CCI-ITF US$15,000 Men's Futures tennis tournament, at the Cricket Club of India, in Mumbai, on Wednesday.
Second seed Somdev Devvarman suffered a shock defeat at the hands of lower-ranked Australian Chris Guccione to bow out of singles but progressed to the doubles semi-finals of the ATP Challenger event in Charlottesville.
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.
Rohan Bopanna and Yuki Bhambri have been awarded wild cards for the singles main draw of the Aircel Chennai Open 2011, from January 3 to 9. Besides the two, Somdev Devvarman also got a direct entry into the tournament on the merit of his ranking.
Being the top seeds, the Indian Davis Cup team received a bye for the first round of the Asia/Oeceania Group I 2016 competition.
Somdev Devvarman could not qualify for the Wimbledon singles but that did affect his rankings as the Indian rose a rung to career-best 103 in the latest ATP list issued on Monday.
Tamil Nadu Tennis Association Vice President Karti Chidambaram says the top 5-6 players such as Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Sumit Nagal, Dhakshineshwar Suresh and Nitin Sinha should be supported to travel with a common coach and trainer, play 26 tournaments, out of which at least 18 are abroad, train for 20 weeks and have six weeks of rest in a year.
Wrestler Kadian Satywart won a bronze in 100kg freestyle event, while shuttler H S Pronnoy and tennis star Yuki Bhambri kept their medal hopes alive as Indians had a good day in office in the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore on Tuesday.
Giant-killer Yuki Bhambri rallied from two match-points down in the second set to score a thrilling 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over No 7 Roko Karanusic of Croatia in the final of the CCI-ITF US$15,000 Men's Futures tennis tournament at the Cricket Club of India, in Mumbai, on Saturday.
