New Delhi, Mar 31 (Tennis News) The Indian Davis Cup team was on Thursday drawn to meet Norway in its next World Group I tie but the country's participation in the away contest is under doubt since it is clashing with the Asian Games in September.

The Davis Cup tie will be held either on September 16-17 or 17-18 while the tennis event at the Asian Games are scheduled to be held from September 10-14.

Even if the Indian players complete their Asian Games engagement by April 14, it will be practically difficult to reach Norway for the tie since the players need to acclimatise before they take to the courts.

It is going to be a challenge for the All India Tennis Association (AITA) to ensure that the country is represented in both the events.

"We and the Asian Tennis Federation had written to ITF about this, since 12 Asian countries are going to be affected by this. We had asked for a change in date but they did not agree, so we are filing an appeal to the ITF," AITA Secretary General Anil Dhupar told PTI.

"We want to play both the events and so do other nations. Pakistan is also filing a separate appeal. Let's see." Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Japan and India feature in World Group I while China, Lebanon, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong and Indonesia feature in World Group II in this year's September ties.

Korea and Kazakhstan are part of the Davis Cup Finals. The Group stage of the event will played from September 14-18.

India and Norway, who have world number eight Casper Ruud in their ranks, have never clashed in the history of Davis Cup.

Their next best player is Viktor Durasovic, who is placed 329 in singles ATP chart.

"Every tie at this level is tough and when it is an away tie, it is a different challenge. It is too early to see if the draw is good for us. There is still a lot of time before the tie," said India coach Zeeshan Ali.

The Indian government is supporting tennis players like Rohan Boanna and Sania Mirza through the TOPS scheme and would like to see these established names competing for the medals at the Asian Games.

At the 2018 Games in Jakarta and Palembang, India's Ankita Raina and Prajnesh Gunneswaran won the singles bronze medals, while the pair of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan claimed the men's doubles gold. 

Also Read : First Yogasana senior national championship starts in Ahmedabad

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Indian Wells, Mar 8 (Tennis News) Ramkumar Ramanathan's winless run against Liam Broady continued as the Indian Davis Cupper suffered his fourth straight defeat against the Briton to bow out of the Indian Wells Masters' qualifying event but Prajnesh Gunneswaran advanced at the Mexico Challenger tournament.

Ranked 170, Ramkumar came into the tournament after wining both his singles in the Davis Cup tie against Denmark.

He lost 2-6 6-3 4-6 to 17th seed and 124th ranked Broady in the opening round of the hard court event.

Meanwhile, left-handed Prajnesh made a winning start at the Challenger 100 event in Monterrey, knocking out American wild card Ryan Harrison 6-3 6-4.

His next opponent is also an American in Alex Rybakov, who disposed off the challenge of Rubin Statham 7-5 6-3.

Prjanesh did not get play a single match in the home Davis Cup tie against Denmark. 

Also Read : Djokovic entered into Indian Wells draw despite vaccination uncertainty

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New Delhi, Mar 2 (Tennis News) India's Davis Cup captain Rohit Rajpal acknowledged that there is a "gap" in Indian tennis at the moment with the next line not quite visible but asserted that a "structured plan" is in place to ensure that the fresh pool of talent emerges soon.

Speaking to the media ahead of the Davis Cup World Group 1 play-off tie against Denmark on Friday and Saturday, Rajpal was asked about the plan for the future in Indian tennis given that the squad still features a 41-year-old doubles specialist in Rohan Bopanna.

"We have a decent line-up for singles, we have a good line-up for doubles but we do have an issue that some of the players are getting older for example, Rohan is getting on the other side of 40, and that is worrying for me," Rajpal said in a press conference here.

"There is a gap in Indian tennis at this moment. We are also opening centre of excellence and sports science centre. Overall, we are trying to create a pipeline. (Davis Cup coach) Zeeshan Ali has moved to Delhi, we have picked up some kids, some more will be picked. We have a structured plan. We are trying to cover the gap. That's the effort," he added.

About the tie, Rajpal reiterated that the grass court would work to India's advantage and was especially pleased to have Yuki Bhambri back in the mix. Bhambri (863) along with Ramkumar Ramanathan (182) and Prajnesh Gunneswaran (228) make up the singles line-up.

"Ram has been playing well, he won a Challenger in the Middle East. I am very happy to have Yuki Bhambri in the team. We have been working on his fitness to make sure he is ready for the tie," Rajpal said.

Asked about the home advantage against the Danes, Rajpal said the surface certainly gives India the edge.

"It all depends who you are playing against, if you have a Federer and Nadal then you haven't won half the battle. Otherwise, the home side has advantage because you get to choose the surface," he pointed out.

Denmark Captain Frederik Nielsen agreed with that assessment.

"I trust my boys, playing on the grass court will not be the biggest upset in the history of Davis Cup but it's needless to say that it may cause some upsets to win this tie," said Nielsen.

The two captains also touched on the dying art of serve and volley in an increasingly power-driven game.

"The art of serve and volley is dying. The players are strong, athletic, stroking machines, they run down and hit back, and they hit very hard. The touch is gone, the craft is dying, which is quite sad. (But) over here you will see lot of serve volley," said Rajpal.

Nielsen was not particularly sad about the craft's fading relevance and listed the practical reasons why players are looking for big, powerful shots.

"Conditions don't suit serve and volley anymore. The players are big, the conditions are slow. The equipment is too good. It's too easy to hit and hit harder shots.

"In order to change that you have to change the surface, play on faster surfaces. There is really no benefit in encouraging serve and volley anymore. The surface encourages baseline rallies," he said. 

Also Read : Novak Djokovic parts ways with long term coach Marian Vajda

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Bengaluru, Feb 14 (Tennis News) Prajnesh Gunneswaran was knocked out of the Bengaluru Open 2 but Arjun Kadhe advanced to the singles second round here on Monday.

Paying a price for his unrelenting errors, Prajnesh lost 4-6 2-6 to top seed Aleksandar Vukic but Kadhe brushed aside the challenge of compatriot Adil Kalyanpur 6-2 6-2.

Dimitar Kuzmanov of Bulgaria upset second seed Frenchman Hugo Grenier 6-4 6-3 to advance to the pre-quarterfinals.

Although the match between Vukic and Gunneswaran seemed to go on an even note, the 25-year-old Australian achieved a crucial break in the third game, which eventually helped him walk away with the first set.

Vukic moved ahead 2-0 after a break in the very first game of the second set and got one more break in the fifth game for a decisive 4-1 lead.

In another interesting match of the day, after an early break in the second game, 28-year-old Dimitar dominated the proceedings.

However, Grenier showed signs of a comeback with a break in the seventh game to narrow the lead to 3-4 but lost his serve again in the 10th to lose the set.

The games went with the serves in the second set, each of them fiercely contested with long rallies. A double fault in the sixth game followed by another unforced error cost him his serve, which paved the way for Dimitar's win.

Earlier in the day, Nitin Kumar Sinha toiled his way into the main rounds by ousting third seed Rio Noguchi of Japan 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-1 in the final qualifying round.

Joining him was the top seed in qualifiers, Mukund Sasikiran, who was stretched by fellow Indian Manish Suresh Kumar before prevailing 7-5 1-6, 6-3. 
 

Also Read : Kontaveit inches closer to Novotna’s record after St. Petersburg title

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Bengaluru, Feb 12 (Tennis News) India's Prajnesh Gunneswaran will take on top seed Australian Aleksandar Vukic, while Ramkumar Ramanathan has been pitted against seventh seed Mathias Bourgue of France in the opening round of the Bengaluru Open 2 ATP Challenger, which begins with the qualifiers on Sunday.

The 25-year-old Vukic, currently ranked 138th in the world, was handed the top seed, while Frenchmen Hugo Grenier, ranked 158th and 161st ranked Enzo Couacaud were seeded second and third respectively. Italian Federico Gaio received the fourth seed during the draw ceremony here.

Vit Kopriva of Czech Republic, Australian Max Purcell and Taipei’s Chun-hsin Tseng bring up the rear of the seeds.

Prajnesh had lost in the second round to top seed Jiri Vesely, while Ramkumar exited in the first round after losing to Australia's Max Purcell at Bangaluru Open 1.

The qualifying rounds of Bengaluru Open 2 will be held on Sunday and Monday.

It is the second challenger event to be held in Bengalore.

The ATP Challenger Tour is a series of international tennis competitions -- the second-highest tier of tennis competitions after the ATP Tour and is administered by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). 

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Bengaluru, Feb 10 (Tennis News) India's singles challenge ended at the Bengaluru Open with the second round defeat of Prajnesh Gunneswaran against top seed Jiri Vesely, here on Thursday.

Prajnesh won the first set but eventually made exit with a 6-3 2-6 1-6 defeat that sent the Czech into the quarterfinals, where he will meet sixth seed Frenchman Enzo Couacaud who quelled the challenge of Max Purcell 6-4 3-6 6-2.

"I think I went wrong somewhere at the end of the second set as I committed too many mistakes which could have been avoided," Prajnesh said after the match.

The 28-year-old Vesley said, "I just wanted to be myself and play my natural game. Although his confidence was high after the first set, I don't know what happened to him, his game just dropped." Meanwhile, three Indian pairs bowed out of the doubles event with only the third seeded team of Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan advancing to the semifinals after getting a walkover from their opponents Steven Diez of Canada and Malek Jaziri of Tunisia.

In the other singles pre-quarterfinals, Cem Ilkel of Turkey made a superb comeback to down the big-serving Russian Evgeny Donskov 2-6 6-3 7-5 to set up a last eight showdown with Alexandre Muller of France, a 7-6 (4) 6-4 winner over Bulgarian Dimitar Kuzmanov in a match that lasted for three hours. 

Also Read : Sakkari to face Mertens for semifinal spot at St. Petersburg

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Bengaluru, Feb 8 (Tennis News) Prajnesh Gunneswaran emerged as the only Indian to manage a win in the singles main draw of the Bengaluru Open as Ramkumar Ramanathan and Arjun Kadhe made first-round exits, along with two other home players, here on Tuesday.

The left-handed Gunneswaran, who returned aggressively, beat French player Mathias Bourgue 7-6(4) 6-2 in the opening round of the USD 53,120 ATP Challenger tournament.

However, Ramkumar, who won the doubles trophy in Pune last week with Rohan Bopanna, squandered a one-set advantage to lose 6-3 0-6 5-7 to Australia's Max Purcell in his opening round.

Kadhe, who had qualified for the main draw, struggled with his serve and lost his match 16 2-6 to Turkey's Altug Celikbilek.

Wild card S D Prajwal Dev lost 2-6 2-6 to Bulgaria's Dimitar Kuzmanov.

Rishi Reddy, another wild card entrant, lost 1-6 3-6 to sixth seed Frenchman Enzo Couacaud.

Prajnesh is now the only Indian surviving in the singles draw as Saketh Myneni has already exited the event following his first-round defeat on Monday.

In the doubles, the Indian pair of Yuki Bhambri and Divij Sharan moved to the quarterfinals after the Turkish team of Altug Celikbilek and Cem Ilkel retired midway into the contest. The Indians were leading 3-1 at the time. 

Also Read : Kontaveit faces uphill task at St. Petersburg Open

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Bengaluru, Feb 7 (Tennis News) India's Arjun Kadhe booked a slot in the main draw of the Bengaluru Open but Saketh Myneni exited the ATP Challenger tournament following a first round drubbing here on Monday.

Kadhe, who entered the Qualifying event as an alternate, knocked out Austrian Alexander Erler 6-3 6-4.

In the main draw he is set to compete against Turkey's fifth seed Altug Celikbilek in the first round.

Sasikumar Mukund, though, could not clear the Qualifiers, losing 3-6 2-6 to Croatia's third seed Borna Gojo in the final round.

Myneni, who has been included in the Indian Davis Cup team as a reserve member for next month's tie against Denmark, lost the men's singles first round 1-6 1-6 to Italy's Gian Marco Moroni.

Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Ramkumar Ramanathan will open their campaign on Tuesday against Mathias Bourgue and Max Purcell respectively.

Rishi Reddy and S D Prajwal Dev have been given wild card entries into the main draw.

Yuki Bhambri and Divij Sharan will compete in the doubles as a team.

Kadhe and Adil Kalyanpur have also entered as wild card entrants. 

Also Read : We have shown to world, India can pull off big events despite COVID-19 challenge: Tata Open Organisers

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New Delhi, Feb 7 (Tennis News) India's Ramkumar Ramanathan on Monday broke into the doubles top-100 for the first time in his career, after winning the Tata Open Maharashtra along with compatriot Rohan Bopanna, who also jumped eight places to 35 in the ATP list.

Ramkumar, who zoomed to a career-best 94, and Bopanna won their second title together on Sunday after beating the Australian team of Luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith.

The 250 points earned helped Ramkumar jump 14 places while Bopanna gained eight places for the performance.

Bopanna, 41, and the 27-year-old Ramkumar are the only players from India ranked inside top-100.

The left-handed Divij Sharan is ranked 134, having moved up by one slot.

Ramkumar is also the highest ranked Indian in the singles chart. He is placed 185 after losing three places and is followed by out-of-action Sumit Nagal (217,+5), Prajnesh Gunneswaran (235, -7) and Mukund Sasikumar (334).

Comeback man Yuki Bhambri, who made the second round in the singles event of the Tata Open, jumped 193 places to 670. He began the season outside 1000 bracket having missed three years of action due to a knee injury. 

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Bengaluru, Feb 2 (Tennis News) Prajnesh Gunneswaran is keen to regain the Bengaluru Open title which he won in the 2018 as the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association gears up to host back-to-back ATP Challenger events starting Sunday with the qualifiers.

"I have great memories of Bengaluru. I practiced at the KSLTA for a fairly long period and I have had a good outing at the Challengers," Prajnesh said.

"I have many titles here and it is like a second home for me in India other than Chennai. I am looking forward to coming back to the City which is very familiar to me and winning would definitely add to my joy," said the 32-year-old in an interview from Pune.

Currently ranked 228 in the world, Prajnesh who got into the main draw of the Bengaluru Open on Tuesday, expects a stiff competition during the weeks to come.

"Definitely, it is going to be tough. I'm sure there a lot of good players, especially because it's right after Pune and then the two Challenges are in a row.

"So a lot of the higher ranked players end up staying, which is not necessarily good for the Indians, but it is good to have an event with quality players. It's always nice to watch and be a part of it," he said.

Prajnesh, who has two ATP Challenger titles and nine ITF titles to his credit, was not in the best of shape during last year which also saw COVID-19 curtailing most of the efforts of the players across the world.

"It was surely not a fun year. Just having visa was not enough as there were new updates about regulations and measures every week. I was difficult travelling which was hectic and stressful," said the southpaw.

"I have not had a great year in terms of my results as I have been carrying some injuries. I could not train much but over the last two months I have gotten past that and I am raring to go," said Prajnesh. 

Also Read : Nagal dropped, Yuki returns for Davis Cup tie against Denmark

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New Delhi, Feb 2 (Tennis News) Sumit Nagal has been dropped from the five-member Indian Davis Cup team for the World Group 1 play-off tie against Denmark here next month, the national tennis federation said on Wednesday.

Nagal (world ranked 222) made way for Yuki Bhambri (863) in the squad which also has Ramkumar Ramanathan (182) and Prajnesh Gunneswaran (228) as other singles players.

The team has been selected keeping in mind the playing surface as both India's top-ranked singles player -- Ramkumar and comeback man Yuki -- are comfortable playing on grass courts.

Gunneswaran and Nagal, on the other hand, are not grass court players.

Besides, doubles specialist Rohan Bopanna has retained his place in the squad alongside Divij Sharan, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) said.

Saketh Myneni and Digvijay Pratap Singh are the two reserve players in the squad, to be coached by Zeeshan Ali, and has Rohit Rajpal as non-playing captain.

The tie will be held at the grass courts of Delhi Gymkhana Club on March 4 and 5, inside a bio-security bubble.

The team was handpicked after a virtual meeting of the Professional Selection Committee of AITA on January 29.

According to a statement issued by AITA, the meeting was attended by chairman Nandan Bal, members Balram Singh, Mustafa Ghouse, Sai Jayalakshmy, Rajpal, Zeeshan Ali and AITA secretary general Anil Dhupar.

The team will assemble in New Delhi on February 23.

Also Read : Tata Open Maharashtra: Ramkumar, Arjun ousted in opening round

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Pune, Feb 1 (Tennis News) India's Ramkumar Ramanathan and Arjun Kadhe were ousted in the opening round of Tata Open Maharashtra tennis tournament here on Tuesday, after hard-fought three-setters against their respective opponents.

While Ramkumar suffered a 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 3-6 defeat against eight seed Stefano Travaglia, local boy Kadhe lost 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (6-4), 6-2 to Joao Sousa.

The fourth edition of South Asia's only ATP-250 Tour event is organised by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association.

Both Ramkumar and Travaglia looked in good touch as they played aggressively in an intense first set.

At 4-4, the Chennai-born player responded well and hit back hard to make it 6-5 before the set went into tie-breaker. Travaglia sealed the set with his big serves.

The top-ranked Indian took control of the second set with a 4-2 lead. He then snatched it quite comfortably in the end with a brilliant serve to level the scores at 1-1.

However, the World No. 93 Travaglia made a strong comeback in the decider to take 5-3 lead. Serving for the match, the Italian didn’t let the momentum slip to pocket the set as well as the match.

Earlier, the 28-year-old Kadhe made former World No. 28 Sousa work hard for each point in the nail-biting first two sets which went into the tie-break.

However, the Indian’s challenge came to an end after the Portuguese took the charge of the game in the final set and completed a win convincingly.

"It was a tough match, he’s (Sousa) a world class player. It was a really close second set, one or two points I could have played better and won that match," Kadhe said after the match.

In other round-of-32 singles matches, sixth-seed Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland outclassed last edition’s semi-finalist Egor Gerasimov in straight sets 6-0, 7-6 (13-11).

The 22-year-old Ruussuvuori later ended the day with one more win to seal a place in the doubles quarter-finals, partnering Italian Gianluca Mager. The pair upstaged the fourth-seeded Australian duo of Marc Polmans and Matt Reid 6-4, 6-4.

Bernabe Zapata Miralles and Aleksandar Vukic also advanced to the second round with contrasting victories in their respective matches.

Spanish player Miralles, who made his Grand Slam debut at the French Open last year, had an easy task against Denis Novak as he secured a 6-4, 6-1 win without breaking a sweat.

However, 25-year-old Australian Vukic recovered well in time after being a set down to complete a thrilling 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) victory. Vukic is now set to face second-seed Italian rising star Lorenzo Musetti on Wednesday.

On Monday, India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran suffered a hard-fought opening round defeat 6-7 (5-7), 2-6 against the fifth seed Daniel Altmaier. 

Also Read : Simon and Tsonga record first victories of the season at Montpellier

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(Tennis news) Social media platforms ShareChat and Moj have announced their partnership with the Tata Open Maharashtra. The partnership will allow the social media channel’s communities to access content around the sport with a special category of ‘Tata Open Maharashtra’ to be created under the sports tab in SharChat. 

After a one year break, Tata Open Maharashtra has begun on January 31st at Balewadi Stadium in Pune and will go on until February 6th. Organized by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association, international players such as world number 15 Aslan Karats and defending champion Jiri Vesely are participating for the singles title alongside Lorenzo Musetti and Portugal's Joao Sousa. 

The tournament is operated by RISE Worldwide in India and owned by IMG. The Indian contingent features Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Arjun Kadhe in singles and three pairs will be seen in action in doubles led by Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan. The tournament will be broadcast on The Star Sports Select channel and Disney+ Hotstar.

“The tournament has always attracted the audience with top-notch and nail-biting tennis action with the participation of top names from the world and enjoys a great viewership in India. We are delighted to have a partnership with ShareChat and Moj for creating exciting content around the tournament to engage more audience. It would be a great collaboration for promoting tennis through this platform and motivate the audience. Through this partnership, we will be trying to reach out to a much larger audience, especially millennials and Gen Z." said Prashant Sutar, Tournament Director of Tata Open Maharashtra.

Commenting on the partnership, Shashank Shekhar, Sr Director Content Strategy and Operations, ShareChat and Moj said, “We are delighted to partner with Tata Open Maharashtra and give ShareChat and Moj communities the opportunity to witness a prominent tennis tournament. ShareChat & Moj are the perfect platforms to revel in sports and connect with tennis fans pan India.”

Also read: Yuki comes from behind to win first round at Tata Open Maharashtra

Pune, Jan 31 (Tennis News) India's Yuki Bhambri registered a sensational come-from-behind win over Jozef Kovalik of Slovakia in the men's singles opening round of the Tata Open Maharashtra tennis tournament here on Monday.

The 29-year-old Indian, who started directly in the main draw in South Asia's only ATP 250 meet, secured a 6-7 (10), 6-2, 7-5 win in his opener.

After losing the hard-fought first set, the former junior world number one, who made a comeback in the international circuit recently after a two-year break due to an injury, started the second with 2-0 lead and looked in good touch.

He didn't let the momentum shift before bagging the set easily and levelling the scores.

In the decider, the Delhi-born player converted a break point to take the scores at 3-3 and then added one more set point to keep himself ahead in the game.

Though the 29-year-old Slovakian tried his best to make a comeback into the contest, Bhambri held his nerves and clinched the decider to advance into the second round.

Prajnesh Gunneswaran is the other Indian who will be in action in the singles main draw later on Monday. He will take on fifth-seed German Daniel Altmaier.

Earlier, France's Quentin Halys sent World No. 82 Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania packing with a stunning 6-1, 6-2 win.

The World No. 141 Halys of France looked quite confident against the higher-ranked opponent as he hardly gave any opportunity to Berankis.

In the other round-of-32 match, former World No. 39 Moldovan Radu Albot faced a tough challenge from Federico Gaio of Italy in the second set but managed to sail through with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) victory.

Meanwhile, the top-seeded Australian pair of Like Saville and John-Patrick Smith lived up to the expectations as they defeated Stefano Travaglia and Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-1, 6-4 in straight sets.

In the other doubles opening round match, the French duo of Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul outclassed the third-seeded pair of Szymon Walkow and Jan Zielinski 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) to move to the quarterfinals.

Also Read : Tata Open Maharashtra 2022 to be broadcasted on Star Sports

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(Tennis news): The wait is finally over for tennis fans as exciting tennis action is set to be back in India after a one year absence as the Tata Open Maharashtra on Monday announced Star Sports as the official broadcaster for its fourth edition to be held at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune. The prestigious tournament will be telecasted live on Star Sports as the main draw will start from today January 31, and the event will go till February 6.

One of Asia's longest-running tennis tournaments, the Tata Open Maharashtra, organised by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association, will witness top international players including world number 15 Aslan Karatsev and defending champion Jiri Vesely vying for the singles title alongside seven other Top-100 players of the world, like teenage sensation Lorenzo Musetti and Portugal's best tennis player of all time Joao Sousa among others. 

The tournament is owned by IMG and operated by RISE Worldwide in India. “We are glad that such a prestigious tournament is returning to India and will be hosted once again despite the challenges of the pandemic. Continuing the tradition and popularity of this tournament over the years, we are delighted that this year too, it will bring a treat for the fans as around 70 top players from 23 countries will be in action. And with the live broadcast, tennis enthusiasts will not be missing thrilling action and can watch it from the comforts of their home” said Prashant Sutar, Tournament Director of Tata Open Maharashtra. 

Fans can enjoy the LIVE action of South Asia’s only ATP tournament on the Star Sports Select channel as well as it will be LIVE streamed on Disney+ Hotstar. Star Sports, which has been showing the tournament on its network for around 12 years, including the last three editions of Tata Open Maharashtra. Star Sports will live telecast the event for close to 50 hours across the week-long tournament.

The Indian challenge will be led by Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Arjun Kadhe in singles and three pairs will be participating in doubles led by Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan. They have been handed a direct entry into the main draw despite a strong line-up of international players.

Also read: Daniil Medvedev taking lessons from the 2022 Australian Open

Melbourne, Jan 16 (Tennis News) Veteran Indian tennis player Sania Mirza and her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok have been seeded 12th in the women's doubles event of the Australian Open and have been pitted against Slovenia's strong singles players Kaja Juvan and Tamara Zidansek.

Sania and Kichekon have entered the first Grand Slam of the season after reaching the semifinals of the first Adelaide WTA event and making a first round exit from the second.

Zidansek is ranked 29th in the world in the singles chart while Juvan is also a top-100 player at number 89.

In the men's doubles, 41-year-old Rohan Bopanna and his French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin have been placed in the bottom half of the draw where they will play against wild card pair of Indonesia's Christopher Rungkat and Philippines' Treat Huey in their first round match.

The mixed doubles draw has not been made as yet and it is highly unlikely that Bopanna and Mirza would enter together since their combined ranking won't be enough to enter the event as a team.

No Indian player could make the singles main draw with Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Ankita Rain falling in the qualifiers. 

Also Read : Tie break thrillers continue to take the spotlight in Australia

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Melbourne, Jan 12 (Tennis News) Prajnesh Gunneswaran lost rhythm and energy before staging a mini comeback but eventually bowed out of the Australian Open Qualifiers with a second-round defeat against Germany's Maximilian Marterer, here on Wednesday. Up against a rival, who served big and packed a lot of power in his strokes but placed seven places below him at 228, Prajnesh lost 2-6 6-7(8) in one hour and 26 minutes.

With Prajnesh losing the battle of the left-handers, Yuki Bhambri is now ꪪthe only Indian surviving in the Qualifiers. Ramkumar Ramanathan and Ankita Raina have already exited the competition.

Down 2-6 2-4, Prajnesh managed to stretch it to a tie-breaker but squandered many a set point to lose the match.

Prajnesh handed the German two break chances in the fourth game of the match when he made a volley error after setting up the point and followed that up with wide forehand. The Indian saved the first chance with a big serve while Marterer's backhand slice landed just outside the baseline on the second.

An engrossing rally, that put Prajnesh's backhand to test against the German's forehand, ensued in the sixth game.

A smart backhand slice by Marterer, after no less than a 20-shot exchange ended the rally as Prajnesh hit the pick-up out, looking for a cross court forehand winner.

Prajnesh's strokes began to lose power and precision after losing that energy-sapping rally and the German began to dictate terms. Marterer hit a forehand winner to earn two break chances and converted the second for a 4-2 lead when Prajnesh made a forehand error.

The German came out serving big in the next game to consolidate his lead but Prajnesh seemed to have lost energy as unforced errors flew from his racquet as he surrendered the opening set.

Early in the second set, Prajnesh went from 40-0 to deuce and was down a breakpoint when he sent another shot long.

Marterer could not covert that but created one more chance when he had Parjnesh scurried to the net from the baseline to miss the ball. Already a break-up, Marterer held his own for a 4-1 lead.

A glimmer of hope came when the German allowed Prajnesh an opening by dropping his serve in the seventh game as it was back on serve.

Yuki Bhambri has a task cut out as he faces world number 130 Tomas Machac from Czech Republic. Yuki is ranked outside top-1000 and has entered the event, using his Protected Ranking (127). 

Also Read : Andy Murray records first victory of the season at the Sydney Tennis Classic

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Melbourne, Jan 9 (Tennis News) India will keenly watch Yuki Bhambri's progress after his return to competitive tennis at the Australian Open Qualifiers while compatriot Ramkumar Ramanathan will enter the competition after a confidence-boosting maiden title triumph on the ATP Tour.

Bhambri, 29, lost invaluable three years due to a troubling knee but in a few tournaments that he has played going into the fresh season, the talented Delhi player seems ready for the grind yet again.

The close fight he had had against Aljaz Bedene in March was a testimony that he is ready for top flight tennis but his return came to halt again due to the same knee issue.

He began again in November, competing on the Challenger and ITF circuit and won a doubles titles with Saketh Myneni in Gurugram.

In the tune-up event for the first Grand Slam, Yuki tied up with old partner Michael Venus but lost first round in Melbourne at the ATP event.

He has got a decent draw as he has been pitted against Portugal's Joao Domingues, ranked 248 and clearing first round should not be an issue for Yuki. A good show at Melbourne Park will set the tone for him in the 2022 season.

In 22 attempts so far, Ramkumar has not yet succeeded in cracking the singles main draw of a Grand Slam and it's time that he breaks the losing trend. He will be up against Italian Gian Moroni, ranked 197.

Ramkumar has enjoyed fantastic results going into Australian Open. He has just won his maiden ATP doubles title in Adelaide with compatriot Rohan Bopanna and also won his maiden singles Challenger title in Manama, Bahrain in November.

His booming serve, a big heart to fight and nicely developed serve-and-volley game is there, just that he needs to put everything together at the big stage.

"It's amazing feeling to win my first ATP Title With Bopsy (Bopanna). A great week ended on a high note, always lived for these moments. Thankful to almighty God for all his blessings,"Ramkumar told PTI.

"I'll surely keep it going and give my best as always. I learnt a lot of things from Bopsy and Scott Davidoff (Bopanna's coach) who was part of our team. We combined well and didn't lose even one service game all week." Another Indian in the qualifying is Prajnesh Gunneswaran, who will open his campaign against Colombian Daniel Galan, ranked almost 100 places above him at 120.

In the women's singles, Ankita Raina will clash with Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko, ranked 118.

Also Read : Bopanna and Ramkumar win Adelaide International with upset win over top seeds.

News Sources : PTI

New Delhi, Dec 20 (Tennis News) The lack of depth in Indian tennis is due to the lack of a structured programme, Davis Cup captain Rohit Rajpal said on Monday but, along with coach Zeeshan Ali, expressed optimism that the establishment of National Tennis Centre will soon start producing players to take the game forward.

The NTC has started functioning at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) but arranging funds for the ambitious project, which offers scholarships to top junior players and aims to provide stat-of-the-art training facilities to the best men and women Indian players, is still keeping the national federation, AITA, worried.

India does not have a single top-100 players in the singles format and the best-ranked player is 27-year-old Ramkumar Ramanathan, who is placed 184 on the ATP chart. Prajnesh Gunneswaran, at 32, is not getting any younger and Rohan Bopanna has already touched 41.

Yuki Bhambri, 29, has lost precious time to injuries and the 24-year-old Sumit Nagal too has his own limitations.

Currently, the next Davis Cup players are nowhere to be seen.

India does not have a single junior player in top-5 even among Asians. Nishant Dabas at 97, is the only player in top-100 juniors in the world. Players from Namibia, Morocco, Kazkahstan and Brazil are ranked much higher than the Indians.

"We must do something. It's a worrisome situation. We used to dominate in Asia at least but it's not the case any more. This is because of lack of a structured programme," rued Rajpal, who was present during the launch of the second season of Pro Tennis League.

"But now NTC is there. Consistent pipeline is a necessity, something that badminton has done, is needed for tennis." Zeeshan, who is heading the coaching programme of the NTC, said "nothing happens overnight." Zeeshan left his base in Bangalore and moved to Noida along with his family to head the NTC.

"The objective of the NTC is not just giving training to the juniors but create a base for all top players of the country, where they can come and use the facilities," said Zeshan.

"The physios, the fitness trainers, gym, pool, restaurant and more importantly a sports science centre where the players and can have their injury issues addressed in a scientific manner." The NTC has, as of now, taken Karan Singh, Ajay Malik, Nishant Dabas, Riya Sachdeva (U14) under its wings, taking care of all the expenses of their training and stay at DLTA.

Suraj Prabodh, Nitin Sinha have also made NTC their base as about 35 players, including from Singapore and Middle East, now train at the centre.

NTC will also tie up with Open schools for online class of its trainees so that their education does not suffer.

"We have lost a lot of players to the US College system. I am sure, given a choice the players will like to turn Pro than play college tennis. And 70-80 per cent of Indian players can't afford to train in Spain or Germany.

"We are trying to bridge the gap. For the first time we have a programme, and hopefully, it will make a difference," said Rajpal. 

Also Read : India to host Denmark on grass courts in Delhi

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Dec 19 (Tennis News) India will host Denmark on grass courts at the Delhi Gymkhana Club in a bio-security bubble in the Davis Cup World Group I tie on March 4-5 next year, AITA sources confirmed on Sunday.

The Indian team management after consulting the players decided to have the matches on grass courts, where the Danish players won't be comfortable.

"A home tie means that you can create conditions that suit your players. The players and the management felt that Indian team will be stronger on grass courts against Denmark players since they are more used to playing on slow hard courts and clay courts," an AITA source privy to the developments told PTI.

The PTI had reported on December 9 that hosting the tie on grass courts is a possibility.

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.

The other Indian singles players Sumit Nagal and Prajnesh Gunneswaran are not grass court players but still they are more experienced on grass than their Danish rivals.

"There is no grass court left at the DLTA, so the matches will be held at the Delhi Gymkhana Club," the source added.

The International Tennis Federation wants the tie to be held in bio-secure environment, so a bubble will be created for the players and the officials.

The source said the fans will be allowed to watch the matches but proximity with the players won't be allowed, keeping in mind the health safety of all involved.

However, media will be allowed to interact with the players.

"The players will not allowed to meet with the fans and go outside but the players can speak with the media following certain protocols," the source added.

India have got a home tie after three years and Delhi will host Davis Cup matches after more than five years.

The last time Delhi had Davis Cup matches was in September 2016 when Rafael Nadal led Spain had blanked India 5-0 in the World Group Play-off round at the DLTA.

The March 4-5 tie will be first between India and Denmark since September 1984 when India won 3-2 at Aarhus.

The two teams have not clashed much as the only other time they played was in 1927 when Denmark whitewashed India 5-0 in the quarterfinal in Copenhagen. 

Also Read : Hyderabad Strikers to meet Mumbai Leon Army in TPL final

News Source : PTI

Mumbai, Dec 16 (Tennis News) Vijay Sundar Prashant beat former world top 100 player Yuki Bhambri and then combined with doubles specialist Divij Sharan to help Gujarat Panthers to beat Delhi Binny's Brigade 44-36 in the Tennis Premier League here on Thursday.

Playing the last match late on Wednesday, Gujarat had opened their account with a 43-37 win over Chennai Stallions.

It was the Ukranian Valeryla Strakhova, who got the Gujarat team pumped up, when she recovered from trailing 3-9 against her Thai opponent Peangtarn Plipuech to tie the first women’s singles at 10-10.

Her performance seemed to have inspired Vijay Sundar, who rarely made a mistake against Bhambri while racing to a 13-7 victory.

Manish Sureshkumar and Peangtarn raised Delhi's hopes of a fightback when they won the mixed doubles against Dhivij Sharan and Valeryla 12-8, to cut Gujarat's lead to just 2 points.

But Sharan and Vijay Sundar, both doubles specialists were too strong for Bhambri and Manish, winning the final rubber 13-7 for a comfortable victory in the end.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Tigers slumped to their third defeat from as many games, losing 34-46 to Mumbai Leon Army despite Prajnesh Gunneswaran's strong singles show to defeat fellow Davis Cupper Ramkumar Ramanathan 13-7, giving his team a four point lead with two matches to be played.

However, the mixed doubles pair of Aryan Goveas and Diana Marcinkevica caved in tamely against Sowjanya and Niki Poonacha, losing 5-15, a deficit too big for Aryan and Prajnesh to cover up in the final men’s doubles encounter.

In the other late match on Wednesday, Mumbai Leon Army beat Delhi Binny’s Brigade 44-36. 

Also Read : Hebert and Mahut receive doubles honors as Karatsev wins improved player

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Dec 9 (Tennis news) India will host Denmark either on grass courts or fast hard courts for their next Davis Cup World Group I tie in March next year with top player Yuki Bhambri set to resume national duty.

The process to identify the venue and surface for the tie began on Thursday with the All India Tennis Association (AITA) reaching out to players to know their preferred surface and potential state associations which could host the matches on March 4-5 next year.

Since Denmark players are used to playing more on slow hard courts and clay courts, India would like to create conditions that help them in home tie. Yuki plays well on grass and Ramkumar Ramanathan too of late is playing well with serve and volley style.

Also, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Sumit Nagal may not be better at playing on grass courts than Yuki and Ramkumar but both of them are still better than Denmark players when it comes to playing on grass or fast hard courts.

"It seems we will settle on either grass courts or fast hard courts. Yuki is our top player and he loves to play on grass," said a source, who is privy to the discussions.

If the tie is held on grass, the likely options would be Delhi, Chandigarh Jaipur and Lucknow and if the players choose to play on fast hard court, Indore will be hot favourite to host the match.

India were handed a home tie after three years after the draw pitted them against Denmark for the World Group I tie.

AITA Secretary General Anil Dhupar said captain Rohit Rajpal is discussing the issue with the players.

"We will know in two days' time where we are going to host this tie. Once we know the players' choice for surface, we will see which venue would be best for the purpose," Dhupar told PTI from Indore.

"I feel Delhi will host matches since Delhi has not hosted any big event in recent past. They must be keen to have this tie," said an AITA official.

The Karnataka association is hosting two Challenger events, so it is highly unlikely that the tie will be held in Bengaluru but an official said they can still "consider".

It will be the first tie between the two nations since September 1984 when India won 3-2 at Aarhus.

The two teams have not clashed much as the only other time they played was in 1927 when Denmark whitewashed India 5-0 in the quarterfinal in Copenhagen.

Also Read : Rafael Nadal and Domnic Thiem look to start strong in 2022 season

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Dec 6 (Tennis news) India have got their first home Davis Cup tie since February 2019 as they have been pitted against Denmark in World Group I contest, scheduled for March 4-5 next year.

India travelled to Finland (2021), Croatia (2020) and Kazakhstan (2019, Pakistan tie) for their last three ties.

India hosted Italy at home in February 2019 and lost 1-3 in Kolkata.

Even though Denmark has a singles player in Holger Rune (103), who is higher-ranked than all the Indian players, it can still be considered a favourable draw for the hosts.

It will be the first tie between the two nations since September 1984 when India won 3-2 at Aarhus.

The two teams have not clashed much as the only other time they played was in 1927 when Denmark whitewashed India 5-0 in the quarterfinal in Copenhagen.

"Thank God, after many ties, we have got a home match. Previous two ties were tough for us, we played Croatia who made the Davis Cup finals. Then we played Finland and everyone thought Finland was an easy team, which was not the case," India coach Zeeshan Ali told PTI.

"India on paper are supposed to be a strong team but except Ramkumar Ramanathan, who is 190 in the world, we don't have anyone in top-200 in singles. We don't have anyone in top-100 for long.

"We were always underdogs but we always had the players to perform very well in Davis Cup but right now we are struggling, so whoever we are playing it's going to be a challenge," he said.

Zeeshan felt a lot would depend which players will be available for the tie.

"The last time we did not have our number one player with us, then Yuki was down with injury. If we have a full strength team, if Sumit is fit by March and Yuki is also available, we have a very good chance of beating Denmark in India," he said.

Prajnesh Gunneswaran (215) has dropped out of top-200 and Nagal, who recently took a break to undergo hip injury, is now ranked 218.

Ramkumar re-entered top-200 after winning a Challenger recently.

Also Read : Croatia’s Borna Gojo is amongst the best performers at the Davis Cup

news Source : PTI

Manama (Bahrain), Nov 28 (Tennis news) Indian tennis player Ramkumar Ramanathan won his maiden Challenger level singles title on Sunday, 12 years after turning a Pro, when he outplayed Evgeny Karlovskiy in the summit clash of the ATP80 Manama event, here.

The 27-year-old Ramkumar, who had lost six Challenger finals in his career before, beat his Russian rival 6-1 6-4 in 68 minutes.

Ramkumar, seeded sixth and ranked 222 in the world, sealed the first set when the Russian's backhand return sailed over the baseline.

This was after Ramkumar saved a breakpoint against Karlovskiy, ranked 302 in the world. That was the only time he faced a break point in the contest.

The Indian served extremely well and his net game too was sharp.

The 80 ranking points earned will push Ramkumar back into top-200 and also make him the highest-ranked Indian on the ATP singles ranking chart.

He is likely to be ranked 186 and will surpass Prajnesh Gunneswaran (215) and out-of-action Sumit Nagal (219) when the chart is updated.

Also Read : Feliciano Lopez and Carreno Busta deliver as Spain begins title defence with victory at Davis Cup

NNews Source : PTI

Espoo (Finland), Sep 18 (Tennis news) 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, here on Saturday.

Captain Rohit Rajpal changed the doubles combination at the last minute by pairing Bopanna with Ramkumar instead of left-handed Divij Sharan but nothing helped as they lost the crucial match 6-7(2) 6-7(2) to Henri Kontinen and Harri Heliovaara in one hour and 38 minutes.

Both Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Ramkumar had lost their singles matches on Friday and to stay alive in the tie, the Indians needed to win the doubles.

The reverse singles have now been rendered inconsequential.

Heliovaara was considered the most vulnerable of all four players on the court but he raised his game by several notches and created a huge impact on the outcome of the match with his fearless approach.

The Indian, on the contrary, fumbled even when they had advantage as they squandered as many as four breakpoints in the eight game of the second set when winning that game could have given them the chance to put the hosts under the pump.

After doing all the hard work, the Indians cracked at crucial junctures.

At 3-3, the Indian pair attacked the serve of Heliovaara, going 30-all but the home player served big on the next two points to ensure the set stays on serve.

Eventually the opening set went to tie-breaker. Heliovaara found a stunning service return winner off Bopanna on the second point to get the mini break and also held his serve as Finland took a 4-1 lead.

Then came Ramkumar's double fault and a volley error at the net that gave Finland players five set points. They converted the second when Ramkumar could not return Kontinen's serve.

A forehand winner by Ramkumar at 30-all in the second game of the second set, set up the first break chance for India and they converted when Kontinen could not return Bopanna's backhand.

However, the big-serving Bopanna dropped his own serve in the next game when he made consecutive unforced errors.

In the next game, the Indians went up 40-0 on Heliovaara's serve but blew away all three breakpoints and later one more to let the rivals hold for a 4-4 scoreline.

Another tie-breaker followed. Helovaara pulled of a sensational forehand winner at 5-2 to get to first match point and it was all over for India when Ramkumar could not return the ball in the next point.

Also read: Davis Cup: Prajnesh, Ramkumar lose on Day 1, India trail 0-2 against Finland

News source: PTI 

Espoo (Finland), Sep 17 (Tennis news) Prajnesh Gunneswaran yet again lost to a lower-ranked player in the Davis Cup while Ramkumar Ramanathan went down fighting in the second singles as India trailed 0-2 in the World Group I tie against Finland, here on Friday.

Up against Otto Virtanen, ranked as low as 419 in the ATP ranking chart, the 165th ranked Prajnesh lost 3-6 6-7(1) in just one hour 25 minutes.

Ramkumar, ranked 187, presented a good fight but lost 4-6 5-7 to Finland's number one player, Emil Ruusuvuori, who is ranked 74th.

While Ramkumar tried a few tricks in his bag to overcome his rival, Prajnesh's defeat was extremely disappointing since he had a less experienced player, who had won just one Davis Cup match before this tie, to contend with.

After dropping his serve in the sixth game, Ramkumar got the break back immediately, playing smartly. He often charged the net to surprise his opponent, getting some good points.

However, he went down 0-40 in the 10th game while serving to stay in the set and lost it when he hit a backhand wide.

Ruusuvuori countered Ramkumar's strategy of chip and charge easily in the second set, hitting a few passing winners. The home player even got a breakpoint in the fourth game but Ramkumar saved that to stay on serve.

The Finnish player raised his game post 5-5 scoreline as he started to add more power to his game and strokes.

He hit a splendid cross court winner at 40-40 to earn his first match point but Ramkumar kept his cool and saved that by dispatching a winner in open court from close the net.

However, the Indian served a double fault soon to hand Ruusuvuori his second and the Finland player converted that with a backhand passing winner.

Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan now must the doubles match to keep India alive.

Earlier, Prajnesh saved two breaks early but dropped serve in the sixth game to fall behind in the opening set. The left-hander got a chance to break back when Virtanen double-faulted at deuce point in the next game but Prajnesh could not capitalise on the chance.

Virtanen served out the set without any fuss in the ninth game. With home support, Virtanen kept the Indian under the pump. Prajnesh was again in danger of dropping serve early in the second set but he managed to hold the third game after a couple of deuce points.

Prajnesh kept fighting till 4-all but was down 0-40 after serving a double fault in the ninth game. However, he saved five breakpoints and eventually held the game with a well-calculated drop shot.

The Indian served the 11th game set love and now needed to break his rival, who was playing effortlessly.

He got that little chance when Virtanen hit forehand on net at deuce point but the Finnish pulled off an ace at the break point. Eventually it went to a tie-breaker, in which Prajnesh fell behind 0-3 and then 1-5.

An angled serve that Prajnesh could not return gave the home player a match point, which he converted with an easy winner.

Also read: Davis Cup: Indian players need to give their all against Finland

News source: PTI 

Espoo (Finland), Sep 14 (Tennis news) The Indian tennis squad was in for a pleasant surprise when it found out that the indoor hard court for the upcoming Davis Cup tie against Finland was not as fast as it was expected and carries low bounce.

The Indian players on Tuesday got a chance to practice on the match court, which has been laid temporarily on carpet at an ice-hockey stadium here and after the first hit, it turned out that it suits the visitors in limited yet crucial way.

Non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal, before leaving for Finland, had said that they are expecting fast hard courts but realised that it's not the case.

"What they have done is that they have pulled the ice out and put a wooden plank and laid the court over it, so the bounce is low that suits us but at the same time the slowness of the court does not suit us," Rajpal told PTI.

"The Europeans mostly play on clay courts which are slower, so they like to rally a lot and that is their strength. Our Indian players do not do that but low bounce will certainly benefit us and our strategy will revolve around that," he added.

Asked how the low-bounce court would suit Ramkumar Ramanathan and Prajnesh Gunneswaran when they too have spent considerable time training and playing in Europe, Rajpal said because of their repertoire of shots. "We can chip and charge, our players do that often. Both Ramkumar and Prajnesh hit flat and for that, the low bounce will be pretty helpful. You can't do that on high bounce courts," he explained.

The two-day tie begins Friday.

Finland have higher-ranked players in both singles and doubles but Rajpal, for whom it will be his third tie as captain, said the Indians are in with a chance.

Finland's top-ranked player is Emil Ruusuvuori, who is placed 74 on the ATP list while India's best-ranked player Prajnesh Gunneswaran (165) is not even inside top-150.

The left-handed Indian had recently lost to Ruusuvuori on the Tour.

"On paper they are a better ranked team than us but this is Davis Cup, I say it is 50-50. It depends on how things pan out on the first day as well. To have a 1-1 score on day one is important for us. The doubles is going to be a crucial match for both sides." "As the days go on and we get to see more of our players, our strategy will be clearer. The team is looking in good shape, the boys have been playing on the Tour so they are sharp." The players have entered the bio-bubble where they are restricted to their apartments, hotel and the venue.

The apartments are placed just outside the official hotel, where they go only for food which is served in a separate protected area.

The winner of the tie will qualify for the Qualifiers in 2022 while the losing teams will compete in the play-offs to retain their place in World Group I next year.

Also read: From vegetarian food to extra security, Pakistan taking extra care of India's budding tennis players

News source: PTI

New Delhi, Sep 9 (Tennis news): Sumit Nagal excused himself from the upcoming Davis Cup tie against Finland, citing a hip injury, but the young tennis player continues to play on the ATP Challenger tour, upsetting the national federation, which will soon take up the matter with him.

Nagal wrote to All India Tennis Association (AITA) on August 28 that due to a hip injury he won't be able to compete against Finland because playing on the hard courts would aggravate his injury.

Finland will host India on indoor hard court from September 18.

The AITA then replaced Nagal with Saketh Myneni.

However, Nagal has competed in two Challenger events since then on clay courts -- Meerbusch (Germany) and Banja Luka (Bosnia & Herzegovina) -- which took the AITA by surprise.

Experts say it's impossible to play either on hard courts or clay courts if a player is carrying a hip injury. They say irrespective of the surface, the player can't escape from running which is not possible in case of a hip injury. Before reaching out to Myneni, the AITA also approached Sasi Kumar Mukund to take the place of Nagal in the national team but he also refused to play since he wanted to defend points in Pro Tour.

The lack of commitment of the young tennis players for the national team has stumped the AITA, which says it will speak to Nagal once the Finland tie is over.

"To see our player Sumit Nagal playing other tournaments and not playing Davis Cup is upsetting. We definitely want our best players to play for the country, no doubt about it. We are definitely going to take this matter up once we are back (from Finland)," AITA Secretary General Anil Dhupar told PTI.

"We want him in the Davis Cup team. Let's see what appropriate action we can take once we are back. We expect our top players to make themselves available (for national team)," he added.

Non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal also did not appreciate Nagal's decision.

"Obviously any captain will like his best players available. It's disappointing to go without our best team. Yuki Bhambri is injured," said Rajpal.

The 24-year-old Nagal could not be reached for a comment and his manager did not respond to messages.

Somdev Devvarman, who is also part of Nagal's team in a mentor's role, also did not respond to messages.

However, Mukund gave his reasons for not joining the Indian team.

"I am not as high ranked as Prajnesh and Ramkumar, so I don't have the liberty to choose tournaments, so I have two main draws in the states (USA) so I need to play it.

"I have made 30 points this year and I worked really hard to come back to form and now would be tough for me to break momentum," Mukund said.

The talented young player said his Austrian coach also advised him against playing the upcoming Davis Cup tie.

"My coach (Martin Spottl) said it's better for me to stay on Tour. Even though it was his decision to send me 15 days to Kolkata to practice on grass but this time it was a tough call for him to do that," he said.

Mukund, 24, also said that it would have been extremely difficult for him to get the appropriate visa. "I will just not be able to be in Europe unless they get me a new visa which when I asked the German ambassador he said it's nearly impossible. So I would have to exit EU to either India or Tunisia or somewhere which my coach can't come because someone in his family has a surgery.

"And I am not ready to forego my existing visa for new short term visa," he said.

It may be mentioned that Mukund had made himself unavailable for the tie much before the selection committee meeting took place but the AITA reached out to him again after Nagal pulled out.

Also read: Novak Djokovic books semifinal showdown against Alexander Zverev at the US Open, Emma Raducanu breaks into the last four

News source: PTI

New York, Sep 7 (Tennis news) Veteran Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna and his Croatian partner Ivan Dodig fought their hearts out before losing their men's doubles third round to fourth seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury at the US Open here.

Bopanna and Dodig, seeded 13th, lost 7-6(4) 4-6 6-7(3) to the Australian Open runners-up in a gruelling contest that lasted two hours and 30 minutes on Monday night.

With this defeat, India's challenge has ended at the last Grand Slam of the season.

Also read: Emma Raducanu breezes past Shelby Rogers at the US Open, Matteo Berrettini seeks Wimbeldon revenge against Novak Djokovic

Sania Mirza lost her both women's doubles and mixed doubles first rounds and Ankita Raina also lost in the women's doubles.

Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Sumit Nagal and Ramkumar Ramanathan could not not qualify for the singles main draw, falling in the Qualifiers. 

News source: PTI

New York, Aug 27 (Tennis news) India's singles challenge came to an end at the US Open qualifiers after Prajnesh Gunneswaran was handed a straight-set defeat by American Christopher Eubanks in the second round here.

The world no.156 Indian, who was looking to make his second appearance in the US Open main draws, went down 3-6 4-6 to Eubanks, ranked 216th, in a 50-minute showdown on Thursday night.

Also read: Prajnesh advances to second round of US Open qualifiers

The 31-year-old Gunneswaran had qualified for the main draw in 2019, when he had lost to Russia's Danil Medvedev in the opening round.

The two other Indian players in fray in the men's singles qualifiers, Sumit Nagal and Ramkumar Ramanathan, made opening-round exits earlier in the week.

Nagal lost 5-7 6-4 3-6 to Argentina's Juan Pablo Ficovich while Ramkumar frittered away a one-set advantage to lose 6-4 6-7 (1) 4-6 to Russia's Evgeny Donskoy.

Ankita Raina was also ousted from the tournament after losing her first round match in women's singles qualifiers 3-6 6-2 4-6 to American Jamie Loeb.

News source: PTI

New York, Aug 26 (Tennis news) India's top-ranked tennis player Prajnesh Gunneswaran progressed to the second round of the US Open qualifiers with a straight set win over Brayden Schnur of Canada here.

Gunneswaran got the better of the world no. 232 Canadian 6-4 7-6 in one hour 37 minutes on Wednesday night.

The 31-year-old Indian will lock horns with American Christopher Eubanks in the next round.

Also read: Serena Williams pulls out of US Open due to injured right hamstring

Gunneswaran had qualified for the main draw of the tournament in 2019, when he had gone down to Russia's Danil Medvedev in the opening round.

The world no 156. is the only Indian left in the men's singles qualifiers as Sumit Nagal and Ramkumar Ramanathan made opening round exits.

Ankita Raina also exited after losing her first round in women's singles qualifiers to American Jamie Loeb. 

News source: PTI

New Delhi, Aug 6 (Tennis news) Doubles exponent Rohan Bopanna on Friday retained his place in the Indian 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.

Expectedly, all top three singles players of the country -- Prajnesh Gunneswaran (ranked 158), Sumit Nagal (159) and Ramkumar Ramanathan (204) -- have been picked for the September 17-18 tie, which will be held on indoor courts in Espoo Metro Areena in Espoo city.

The AITA selection committee had a virtual meeting on Thursday to decide on the team.

Rohit Rajpal will be the non-playing captain of the side and Zeeshan Ali the coach.

Bopnna, ranked 40, will have his doubles partner in Divij Sharan, ranked 82.

The duo could not qualify for the ongoing Tokyo Olympics due to low combined rank.

In the last tie against Croatia which India lost 1-3, Bopanna had paired with Leander Paes. Rest is the same squad.

Bopanna had accused the All Indian Tennis Association (AITA) secretary general Anil Dhupar of misleading him and the nation by claiming that the ITF had accepted his and Sumit Nagal's entry for the doubles competition of the Tokyo Games.

Bopanna made public his telephonic conversation with Dhupar, putting the audio recording on his twitter page.

Finland has one higher-ranked singles player in Emil Ruusuvuori, who is placed 69th in the ATP chart, while it does not have a player inside top-100.

Finland also has two decent doubles players in Henri Kontinen and Harri Heliovaara, who are ranked 39 and 38 respectively.

Also read: Sania and Ankita lose to Ukranian Twins as World number one shocked in Singles

Selection committee member Balram Singh told PTI that the recent controversy regarding Bopanna was not discussed by the members.

"There are former players in the committee and they know the value of a doubles rubber point in Davis Cup. Rohan, being our top player, was a natural choice," Balram said.

"It was just a matter of misunderstanding that a controversy erupted," he said.

The winner of the tie will qualify for the Qualifiers in 2022 while the losing teams will compete in the play-offs to retain their place in World Group I next year.

News source: PTI 

New Delhi, Jul 16 (Tennis news) Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal on Friday made the cut for the men's singles event of the Tokyo Olympics as large-scale withdrawals pushed him inside the qualification mark.

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) promptly paired him with Rohan Bopanna for the men's doubles competition by withdrawing Divij Sharan's nomination.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) communicated to the AITA that Nagal was eligible for men's singles, hours before the deadline for entries expires.

Nagal was ranked 144 on June 14, when ATP rankings were to be considered for direct entries.

Till Thursday, the cut-off was in the range of 130 as Yuki Bhambri, with his protected ranking of 127, made the cut.

However, since he recently underwent a procedure on his right knee in the US, he has made himself unavailable and confirmed it to the PTI.

The stringent protocols under which the Games are being held and the fear of contracting the coronavirus has pushed many to withdraw, forcing the authorities to keep lowering the cut-off mark.

Prajnesh Gunneswaran was ranked 148 on June 14 and it remains to be seen if he also makes the cut by the time the deadline ends at 8:30pm IST.

"ITF has confirmed Nagal's entry for singles. We spoke to him and he accepted his entry. We have approached IOA and requested to arrange for his accreditation," Anil Dhupar, AITA's secretary general, told said.

Since the ITF is giving priority to singles players for filling up the men's doubles draw, AITA sniffed a chance to get a spot by fielding Nagal with Bopanna, who was earlier nominated with Divij Sharan.

Bopanna and Sharan, with a combined rank of 113, till Friday morning formed the fourth alternate team.

"We have withdrawn Divij Sharan's nomination and sent a new team to ITF. Let' see if Bopanna and Nagal can enter," Dhupar added.

It is imperative that Bopanna makes the cut for the men's doubles because it is highly unlikely that Nagal and Sania Mirza would make it to the mixed doubles event, which is a 16-team affair.

Also read: Tennis player Nagal now eligible for Tokyo singles draw, Yuki misses out due to injury

The ITF, as of now, has not confirmed if Bopanna and Nagal can enter the men's doubles.

"We are not in a position to speculate on doubles scenarios. Gunneswaran is still a few places below the cut-off," an ITF official told PTI.

As of now only Sania Mirza and Ankita Raina are certain to compete in the women's doubles draw. Sania used her protected rank of nine to enter with Ankita.

All top-10 players get direct entry and have the privilege to choose a partner of their choice, who is ranked inside top-300.

News source: PTI

New Delhi, Jul 16 (Tennis news) Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal is now eligible to compete in the men's singles event at the Tokyo Olympics, the world governing body ITF has communicated to the AITA, a source in the national tennis body said on Friday.

Nagal was ranked 144 on June 14, when ATP rankings were to be considered for direct entries.

Another specialist singles player Prajnesh Gunneswaran was ranked 148 and it remains to be seen if he also makes the cut as the deadline for accepting tennis entries is closing in a few hours from now.

The stringent protocols under which the Games are being held and the fear of contracting coronavirus has forced many withdrawals that kept lowering the cut-off mark.

"We have received a mail from the ITF that Sumit is now eligible. They have asked for his details. We have started the process of getting him in," an AITA official told PTI.

Yuki Bhambri, with his Protected Ranking of 127, also made the cut but since he recently underwent a procedure on his right knee in the US, he has made himself unavailable.

Also read: Touching 40s, India's Table Tennis great Sharath Kamal hits peak ahead of Tokyo Olympics

"I won't be playing," Bhambri told PTI in a terse message.

If Nagal can make it to Tokyo by completing all the required formalities, it remains to be seen if he makes the doubles draw with Rohan Bopanna, who could not enter with Divij Sharan till now.

Bopanna and Sharan's combined rank is 113 and they were still fifth alternate recently.

ITF is giving priority to the singles players to fill the doubles draw.

Nagal's entry would also mean that India can now have a team in the mixed doubles draw as well.

As of now only Sania Mirza and Ankita Raina are certain to compete in the women's doubles draw. Sania used her protected rank of nine to enter with Ankita.

All top-10 players get direct entry and have the privilege to choose a partner of their choice, who is ranked inside top-300.

News source: PTI

In Sports news, New Delhi, Jun 29 Asian Games bronze medallists Ankita Raina and Prajnesh Gunneswaran have been nominated for the prestigious Arjuna award by the national tennis federation, which has also sent names of Balram Singh and Enrico Piperno for the Dhyanchand honour.

Ankita and Prajnesh both won singles bronze medals at the 2018 Asian Games held in Jakarta and Palembang.

Ankita is now country's best-ranked singles (182) and doubles (95) player and is set to make his Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games next month.

"This year we have nominated Ankita and Prajnesh for Arjuna while the names of very respected Balram sir and Enrico Piperno have been sent for life time achievement honour, Dhyanchand," an All Indian Tennis Association (AITA) official told PTI.

The 28-year-old Ankita has been India's key player in the Billie Jean King Cup team for the last three years.

She was nominated for the 'Arjuna' last year also but Asian Games gold medallist Divij Sharan succeeded in bagging the award.

Prajnesh is one of the most mature players in the current Indian generation. Had he not lost five crucial years to knee stress fractures, his career would have been an altogether different story.

The 31-year-old left-hander from Chennai, ranked 148 on the ATP charts, has played five Davis Cup ties for the country.

In the Lifetime achievement category, Balram Singh, who has a 50 year-long association with the Indian tennis, will vie for the honour along with Piperno, who coached the Davis Cup team between 1991-2001 for 27 consecutive ties.

The 73-year-old Balram, one of those extremely shy and non-controversial figures in Indian tennis, coached the Davis Cup teams in 1989 (South Korea) and 1990 (Japan).

He himself reached the junior Wimbledon and junior US Open quarterfinals in 1966.

That he has always preferred to stay away from the limelight and work in the background is evident from the fact that he has applied for an award for the first time.

He also established Balram Singh Trust to support talented junior players. Balram is a member of the senior selection committee and also headed it in the past.

His children -- Ashutosh Singh and Shalini Thakur -- have also played tennis at a good level. While Ashutosh won the Fenesta Nationals and was also a reserve player in the Davis Cup side, Shalini has played the Fed Cup.

The 59-year-old Piperno also has an impressive CV as he himself is an 1982 Asian Games silver medallist was coach of India's first Grand Slam winner Mahesh Bhupathi from 1997 to 2003 and also travelled for with legendary Leander Paes.

He was also coach of Indian Fed Cup team between 2000 and 2012 and the national women team at the Asian Games in in Busan (2002), Doha (2006) and Guangzhou (2010).

Last year former Davis Cup coach Nandan bal had won the Dhyanchand award. News Source: PTI

New Delhi, Jun 26 The national tennis federation has requested the ITF to consider Ankita Raina's bronze-medal winning performance at the 2018 Asian Games for a place in the women's singles draw of the Tokyo Olympics since the gold and silver medallists from China are eligible for a direct entry due to their higher ranks.

Ankita had won a bronze at the 2018 Asian Games, where the winner was assured of a Continental qualification place in the women's singles draw at the Tokyo Olympics.

Wang Qiang had won the gold while her Chinese compatriot Zhang Shuai took silver at the Games held in Jakarta and Palembang.

As per the June 14 WTA rankings, both Zhang (world number 36) Shuai (world number 38) are eligible for direct entry.

The ITF rules for the eligibility criteria state that athletes who achieve both a Continental Games qualification place and subsequently a Direct Acceptance ranking, will qualify using the Continental Qualification quota place.

As per the ITF rules, if the winner does not accept the quota or becomes ineligible for it, the Continental place can be given to the silver medallist and so on.

However, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) has written to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) that Ankita be considered for an entry so that the country can have representation at the Games in the singles event. "We wrote to them about Ankita's entry through the Continental route and they said they will let us know," a senior AITA official told PTI.

"It makes sense that the Continental place is given to the next best performer if gold and silver medal winners can make it to the draw basis their higher rank." Ankita was ranked 181 on June 14 when the rankings were considered for direct entries.

With such a low rank even mass withdrawal won't help in the draw of 64.

Ankita, though, will make her Olympic debut in Tokyo in the women's doubles after being picked as partner by Sania Mirza, who was assured of direct entry due to her top-10 rank.

Sania has used her protected ranking (9) to enter the Olympics.

Meanwhile, reliable sources have said India will not be able to have representation in the men's singles since the cut fell at 105 and India's best players -- Sumit Nagal (144) and Prajnesh Gunneswaran (148) are not even close to the mark.

It remains to be seen if Rohan Bopanna (38) and Divij Sharan (75) will get entry in the men's doubles. Their combined rank of 113 as of June 14 means that their qualification would depend on withdrawal of teams from other nations.

Bopanna and Sharan had won the gold at the Asian Games but the quota was kept only for the singles winners.

If India won't be able to field a team in the men's doubles, then the country will also go unrepresented in the mixed doubles event since the 16-team competition will have players only from main draws of other events. News source PTI

London, Jun 23 Indian tennis player Ankita Raina's attempt to qualify for the women's singles main draw of Wimbledon failed after she went down in the first round of the Qualifiers here.

The 28-year-old Indian, lost 3-6 6-7 to a higher-ranked American Varvara Lepchenko in one hour 22 minutes late Tuesday night.

Unable to hold her serve in the opening set, the Indian came back strong in the second before being completely outplayed (1-7) in the tiebreak.

Ankita, ranked 182, had only one break point in the match, which she failed to convert.

In the men's qualifiers, India's Ramkumar Ramanathan advanced to the second round but Prajnesh Gunneswaran was ousted on Tuesday. News source: PTI 

London, Jun 22 In a forgettable outing, India's Prajnesh Gunneswaran bowed out of Wimbledon Qualifiers on Tuesday after losing in straight sets to British wild card Arthur Fery, who is not ranked even inside top-1000.

The left-handed Indian, ranked 148, lost 1-6 6-7(5) to his 18-year-old rival, who is ranked as low as 1038.

Prjanesh made a comeback after the first-set drubbing but the Briton did not allow the Indian to stretch the contest to a third set.

Ramkumar Ramanathan and Ankita Raina are also in action on Tuesday. News source: PTI 

Paris, May 25 India's Ramkumar Ramanathan advanced to the men's singles second round of the French Open Qualifiers but Prajnesh Gunneswaran crashed out following his first-round defeat, here on Tuesday.

Ramkumar erased a one-set deficit to beat American Michael Mmoh 2-6 7-6(4) 6-3 in his opening round that lasted one hour and 54 minutes.

He will next take on Uzbekistan's veteran Denis Istomin, who also recorded a three-set win against Bosnia's Damir Dzumhur.

However, left-handed Prajnesh, seeded 32nd, suffered a rather tame 2-6 2-6 loss to Germany's Oscar Otte.

India's top singles player Sumit Nagal, seeded 27th, will open his campaign against Roberto Marcora. New source PTI 

Melbourne, Jan 13 (PTI) Ankita Raina's bid to qualify for a Grand Slam singles main draw failed yet again when she lost the final round of the Australian Open qualifying event to Serbian Olga Danilovic on Wednesday. In the women's singles qualifiers being held in Dubai, Ankita lost the third and final round 2-6 6-3 1-6 to her Serbian opponent in almost two hours. Not being able to win points on her first serve hurt Ankita. It was the Indian's sixth attempt to qualify for a competition at the grand stage. Her defeat means that Sumit Nagal will be the only Indian to compete in the singles event of the first Grand Slam of the season. Nagal has been awarded a wild card entry into the men's singles. Ramkumar Ramanathan had lost in the first round of the men's singles event while Prajnesh Gunneswaran lost his second round to French player Constant Lestienne 2-6 3-6.