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.
A charged up V M Ranjeet put up a spirited fight before losing while Vijayant Malik suffered a tame defeat as India, without its top players, lost the Asia/Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie against South Korea 1-4 in New Delhi on Sunday.
Bereft of its top players, India risk losing the Asia-Oceania Group I tie against Korea as the hosts conceded a 0-2 lead on opening day after debutants V M Ranjeet and Vijayant Malik suffered contrasting defeats in their singles matches in New Delhi on Friday.
He managed to hold serve just once in the entire match but an unfazed V M Ranjeet said he played his best game in what turned out to be a nightmarish Davis Cup debut against South Korea's Min Hyeok Cho in New Delhi on Friday.
V M Ranjeet will open India's Davis Cup campaign against an unranked but talented Min Hyeok Cho of Korea in the Asia/Oceania Group I tie, beginning in New Delhi on Friday.
Thrust into action courtesy a controversy, it will be a test of nerves and skill for the Indian rookies when they take on South Korea in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I tie, beginning in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The International Tennis Federation has rejected an appeal by Pakistan to host its Davis Cup tie against Lebanon next year, the Pakistan Tennis Federation has said.
The Pool B comprises Chinese Taipei, Japan, Thailand and Korea.
Rohan Bopanna advised the Indian youngsters to get fitter to negotiate the challenging conditions after he had to play the fourth rubber of Asia/Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie against South Korea instead of Saketh Myneni who skipped due to fitness issues.
Pakistan tennis mulls appeal against shifting Davis Cup tie; PTF president says 'India has only politicised a sports event'.
India's captain Anand Amritraj said it was "initiation by fire" for both Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan as they pulled off victories in the opening singles of the Asia/Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie against South Korea, under testing conditions, in Chandigarh on Friday.
India have decided to host their February 1 to 3 Davis Cup tie against Korea in the national capital.
Sanam Singh was splendid in his victory after Yuki Bhambri huffed and puffed to a patchy win as India completed a 5-0 rout of New Zealand in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I relegation play-off tie, in Chandigarh on Sunday.
The Indian tennis team has written to All India Tennis Association (AITA) expressing reluctance to travel to Pakistan for their Davis Cup clash scheduled to be held next month.
Leander Paes and his new partner Andre Sa shocked the top-seeded pair of Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi in the ASB Classic in Auckland, to commence their partnership on a successful note on Wednesday.
In what can be termed a decent draw, India is pitted against Japan in the Davis Cup World Group play-off tie, beginning September 16. The winner of the tie will advance to the World Group while the losing nation will compete in the Asia-Oceania Group I zone.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Sania Mirza won the crucial second-round singles match and then combined with Isha Lakhani to clinch the decisive doubles rubber as India earned promotion to Asia/Oceania Group I in Fed Cup after a 2-1 victory over Hong Kong in the play-off tie on Saturday.
India earned the opportunity to get promotion to Asia/Oceania Group I of the Fed Cup after qualifying for the play-off tie, following a 2-1 win over Phillipines in the last round-robin tie in Shenzhen on Friday.
India suffered a 0-3 drubbing at the hands of sixth seeds China to slump to their second consecutive defeat in the Junior Davis Cup Asia/Oceania qualifying round on Tuesday.
Pakistan's annual National Games, scheduled to be held in Peshawar this month, have been postponed because of security concerns, the country's National Olympic Committee said on Tuesday.
Spain's World No 5 Rafael Nadal has been ruled out of opening singles rubber against India in their Davis Cup World Group play-off in New Delhi on Friday.
Leander Paes beat New Zealand's Mark Nielsen 6-1, 7-6, 6-2.\n\n
Sania Mirza and veteran Rushmi Charavarthy registered contrasting singles victories as India blanked Kyrgyzstan 3-0 in the play-off tie to win back their place in the Asia/Oceania Group I of the Fed Cup tennis tournament in Kuala Lumpur.
India blanked New Zealand 2-0 in a classification match of the Asia/Oceania group in the Junior Davis Cup in New Delhi on Friday.
Tennis Australia has filed an appeal against the International Tennis Federation's decision to approve Chennai as the venue for next month's India-Australia Asia/Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie. The ITF will hear the appeal later this week and decide on Tennis Australia's request to shift the tie out of India on security grounds. It had cleared Chennai as the host city despite the Australian federation's concerns about coming to India.
The All India Tennis Association on Saturday lashed out at Australia for pulling out of next month's Davis Cup tie against India, saying they have acted in an "arrogant" and "irresponsible" manner "by creating a situation solely out of their mind and not based on facts". AITA also said it would convey its sentiments to the International Tennis Federation in a letter following Australia withdrawing from the May 8-10 Asia-Oceania Group I tie.
Doubles specialist Rohan Bopanna said he has no security concerns about playing Davis Cup in Pakistan, where he has always enjoyed 'great hospitality'.
Somdev Devvarman, India's best bet in singles, says his team has a fifty-fifty chance against South Africa in the upcoming away Davis Cup tie, the winner of which will advance to the World Group. India advanced to the play-offs, scheduled for September 18-20, after getting a walkover from Australia in the Asia-Oceania Group I.
India will fight it out with South Africa to re-claim a berth in the Davis Cup World Group in an away play-off tie in September. India advanced to the play-off stage after Australia forfeited the Asia/Oceania Group I tie, to be held in Chennai, due to security concerns.
The ITF, in a statement on the Davis Cup website (www.daviscup.com), said, 'By virtue of its decision not to send a team to compete against India, Australia has forfeited the tie. India is declared the winner.'
Australia will not send its Davis Cup team to India for next month's tie because of security concerns, Tennis Australia said on Saturday, knowing the country could now face a year-long ban and substantial fine.TA had appealed against the International Tennis Federation's decision to keep the May 8-10 Asia/Oceania group I tie in Chennai, citing security concerns.The ITF on Friday, however, rejected the appeal and upheld the decision of the Davis Cup committee.
Chile, Austria, Croatia, Israel, Romania and the Netherlands secured places in the World Group of the Davis Cup for 2009 after completing playoff victories in the reverse singles on Sunday.
The hard court of Chennai's Nungambakkam Tennis Centre will host the Davis Cup tie between India and Australia in May, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) said on Tuesday.
Sania Mirza and Poojashree Venkatesha notched up straight-set wins as India blanked Singapore 3-0 in a Group A rubber to get off to a flying start in the Asia/Oceania Group II competition of the Fed Cup tennis tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
Somdev Devvarman routed world number 59 Yen-Hsun Lu 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 to steer India to the third round of the Asia/Oceania Group I Davis Cup competition as the stunning victory gave the visitors an unassailable 3-1 lead against Chinese Taipei in Kaohsiung on Sunday. India will now play the winners of the other second round tie between Australia and Thailand in May to qualify for the World Group play-offs.
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.
An Indian tennis team sans Sania Mirza completed a dubious hat-trick of defeats in the Fed Cup following a 0-3 loss to Uzbekistan in the Asia/Oceania Group I round-robin match in Perth on Friday. As a result, the Indians will now play Chinese Taipei in the relegation play-off on Saturday. With Friday's defeat, India finished last in the four-team Pool A, having also lost 0-3 in the earlier two matches -- against New Zealand and Indonesia -- as well.
Yuki Bhambri opted out of the upcoming Davis Cup match against Korea Republic after failing to recover from an elbow injury. His withdrawal will hand Ramkumar Ramanathan his debut in men's tennis' premier international team event.
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.