Caroline Wozniacki pulls out of Qatar Open due to injury
February 12, 2019 22:29 ISTCaroline Wozniacki was joined on the sidelines by Ashleigh Barty of Australia and Caroline Garcia of France.
Caroline Wozniacki was joined on the sidelines by Ashleigh Barty of Australia and Caroline Garcia of France.
No Indian Davis Cup squad has travelled to Pakistan since March 1964 and in that tie, held in Lahore, India had won 4-0.
Keeping the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in mind, the sports ministry has included the doubles duo of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan, who won the Asian Games gold last year, have been kept in TOPS scheme.
Trailing 0-2 after losing the opening day's singles rubbers, doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan kept India's slender hopes alive by beating Simone Boelleli and Matteo Berrettini 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a one-hour 43 minutes battle.
Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan came from behind to beat the Italian combination of Simone Boelleli and Matteo Berrettini 4-6 6-3 6-4 in an one-hour 43 minutes battle at Calcutta South Club.
Berrettini, the youngest member in the team, had pipped Italy's top-ranked singles player Marco Cecchinato (world number 19) to make the singles draw.
Indian captain Mahesh Bhupathi admitted that the his players were under pressure against Italy, something that top singles player Prajnesh Gunneswaran also echoed.
Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan now have to pick up a win against Marco Cecchinato and Simone Bolelli in the doubles match on Saturday for the hosts to keep the tie alive.
The Briton has had a rough 2018 season as he missed most of the tournaments due to a hip injury.
The 31-year old was due to play her second-round match against number 3 seed Daria Kasatkina but it was the injury that forced her to withdraw from the tournament.
Against a team which leads 4-1 on head-to-head record, India have returned to their favourite Calcutta South Club (CSC) grass courts after 16 years.
Asked if India would be at a disadvantageous position minus Leander Paes on familiar surface at the South Club, Mahesh Bhupathi was dismissive in his reply.
Bhupathi said home comfort and the X-factor of Calcutta South Club's grass courts hold India in good stead in the tie.
Sharapova has rarely played the Russian tour events during her career, and when she has she's never got past the quarterfinals.
World No. 18 Marco Cecchinato will lead Italy's challenge, while they have two others inside top-60. India's top-ranked Prajnesh Gunneswaran, on the other hand, is world number 102.
Osaka's second consecutive major title, following her success at the U.S. Open last year, helped her rise three spots.
Novak Djokovic, a 31-year-old already ranked No. 1, now has won the past three men's Grand Slam titles.
Rafael Nadal was outplayed by Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final on Sunday as the Spaniard suffered a straight set loss to the Serbian.
World No.1 Novak Djokovic won his 7th Australian Open title and he said it was amazing to achieve what he has after recovering from an injury.
Novak Djokovic dominated Rafael Nadal and came out with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win and take his 7th Australian Open title -- the most by any player.
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