Doubles is not a sideshow: Yuki Bhambri on re-invention and right support
As the results of last year's AITA elections stay unannounced, the rival factions in the national tennis federation have picked separate team managers for the upcoming Davis Cup tie against Switzerland, leading to an ego tussle between the members.
Former Indian tennis captain Anand Amritraj has criticized top players Sumit Nagal and Yuki Bhambri for not playing in the Davis Cup, stating that money should not be a factor when representing the country.
Fresh from his exploits in India's first-ever title-winning campaign at the Chess Olympiad, Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi has decided against defending his crown at the 10th Vugar Gashimov Memorial Chess Super Tournament in Azerbaijan for an audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Wednesday.
The All India Tennis Association (AITA) on Tuesday suggested that the country's top player Sumit Nagal perhaps deliberately missed the Davis Cup tie against Sweden last week
The Indo-French pair was staring down the barrel, trailing by two sets but put the match on even keel before eventually going down 2-6, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4, 9-11 in three hours and 37 minutes on court number six.
Leander Paes and Purav Raja, who are trying to establish as a pair on the ATP World Tour, progressed to the quarterfinals of the St Petersburg Open with a straight-set win over Fabio Fognini and James Cerretani.
The top-seeded Indian team of Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Purav Raja moved into the men's doubles quarter-finals of the Bengaluru Open after prevailing over Croatia's Borna Gojo and Bulgaria's Dimitar Kuzmanov, in Bengaluru, on Wednesday.
Leander Paes and Purav Raja were no match for Colombia's Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the pre-quarter-finals of the men's doubles at the Australian Open on Sunday. The unseeded Indians were beaten 1-6, 2-6 by their 11th seeded opponents in 69 minutes.
India needs people like Rahul Dravid and Pullela Gopichand, who have done an excellent job in producing young talent in their respective disciplines, for tennis to develop in the country, says eight-time Grand Slam doubles champion Leander Paes.
India's doubles great Leander Paes has had 119 playing partners in his 27-year career and it appears his latest union could be a profitable one after he and compatriot Purav Raja knocked out former champions Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares on Saturday.
Purav Raja and Divij Sharan turned it around amazingly after losing the first two sets but eventually fell short in an energy-sapping five setter, shortly after Rohan Bopanna also lost his men's doubles second round at the Wimbledon championships, in London on Friday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
Third seeds Raja and Sharan got the better of second seeds Paes and Lipsky 6-2, 6-3 in a lop-sided semi-final.
The fast rising Indian pair of Divij Sharan and Purav Raja came from a set down to win their first title ATP Challenger title of the season as the top seeded Indians tamed Miachel Venus and Sanchai Ratiwatana via Super tie-breaker in the summit clash of the All Japan Indoor Championships, in Kyoto on Saturday.
Unseeded Indians Purav Raja and Divij Sharan entered the second round of the men's doubles event at Wimbledon with a hard-earned four-set victory over British-Portuguese pair of Kyle Edmund and Joao Sousa in London.
Defending champion Rohan Bopanna went down fighting in the thrilling doubles opening round game at the third edition of Tata Open Maharashtra, in Pune, on Wednesday. Playing alongside local boy Arjun Kadhe, the ace Indian player Bopanna dominated the game initially. However, after winning the first set convincingly, the Indian duo couldn't manage to continue the momentum further in the games against French pair of Benoit Paire and Antoine Hoang as they lost the match 3-6, 7-5, 10-7.
Ramkumar Ramanthan played his heart out before losing a tight second round singles match while Purav Raja and Divij Sharan bowed out of the men's doubles in the first round of the qualifiers at Wimbledon on Thursday.
Divij Sharan and Purav Raja won their first title of the 2017 season and maiden on the clay courts by lifting the Bordeaux Challenger trophy.
Divij Sharan kept Indian interest alive at the Wimbledon Championships by reaching the men's doubles pre-quarter-finals with partner Marcelo Demoliner.
The Indian pair of Yuki Bhambri and Divij Sharan advanced to the men's doubles second round of the French Open after blunting the challenge of Fabrice Martin and Purav Raja.
Indian tennis legend Leander Paes and American Scott Lipsky beat French pair of Laurent Lokoli and Maxime Janvier in straight sets to sail into the semi-finals of the Bordeaux Challenger, in Bordeaux, France, on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
Indian tennis ace Leander Paes and his German partner Andre Begemann have stormed into the semi-finals of the St. Petersburg Open after clinching a straight-sets victory in the men's doubles event on Friday.
The fast rising Indian pair of Divij Sharan and Purav Raja clinched its first ever ATP tour level title with a hard-fought win over Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Igor Sijsling in the summit clash of the Claro Open, in Bogota.
On Thursday, Bhambri will look to secure a berth in the singles quarter-finals as takes on eight-seed Stefano Travaglia in a second-round match.
India's second seeds Purav Raja and Divij Sharan were upset in straight sets in the final of the Tashkent Challenger by the unseeded Russian pairing of Mikhail Elgin and Teymuraz Gabashvili, in Tashkent, on Saturday.
Fourth seeds Leander Paes and Andre Sa progressed to the Estoril Open quarter-finals and also joining them in the last-eight pairs were Divij Sharan and Purav Raja.
India's top singles player Prajnesh Gunnesaran drew world number 17 Milos Raonic of Canada as his first round opponent at the Wimbledon Championships, starting Monday.
Another Indian pair of N Sriram Balaji and Vishnu Vardhan will also be seen in the semi-finals after their opponents, Gianluca Mager and Emil Ruusuvuori withdrew from the last-eight match due to an injury to the former.
Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek, seeded fourth, are drawn against Daniele Bracciali of Italy and Jonathan Erlich of Israel in the first round of the men's doubles at Wimbledon, starting Monday.
Divij Sharan and Purav Raja will make their first ever appearance at a Grand Slam as the Indian duo qualified for the Wimbledon men's doubles event.
Czech player Vesely scored a sensational 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(11) victory over Ilya Ivashka of Belarus, while Berankis of Lithuania recovered well after the first set setback to register a 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 victory over Japan's Yuichi Sugita in another hard-fought quarter-final.
Indian players made a positive start at the ATP Nottingham Challenger event as Somdev Devvarman recorded victory in singles while Divij Sharan and Purav Raja advanced to the doubles quarter-finals in Nottingham.
Ramkumar-Balaji win Cassis Challenger title.
For veteran Leander Paes, the team of rookies fighting it out against South Korea are already 'winners', simply because they resisted the 'temptation' of joining the rebels.
Divij Sharan and Purav Raja squandered a superb start and bowed out of the ATP Challenger in Furth, Germany, after losing to local favourites Kevin Krawietz and Dominic Schulz 5-7, 3-6 in the quarter-finals.
Divij Sharan and Purav Raja overcame a wobbly start to put up a good fight but eventually lost the semifinals of the $125,000 ATP Challenger tournament to Samuel Groth and John-Patrick Smith in Kunming.
Divij Sharan and Purav Raja had to be content with yet another runners-up finish after losing the title clash of the ATP Soweto Open to Prakash Amritraj and Rajeev Ram in Johannesburg.
Divij Sharan and Purav Raja made a confident start at the ATP Challenger event in Guadalajara, defeating Marco Chiudinelli and Yuichi Sugita in straight sets. The unseeded Indian pair, runners-up last week at Leon, beat the Swiss-Japanese combo 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the US $100,000 hard court tournament.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances