The Junior Team Of Davis Cup Loses 1-2 to Australia

The Indian Davis Cup junior team finished third in the four-team Group D after losing its final robin 1-2 match against Australia here on Wednesday.

Ajay Malik could only take two games in the opening singles, losing 0-6 2-6 against Phliip Luke Sekulic in just 53 minutes. Sushant Dabas lost 3-6 4-6 to Cooper White in one hour and 35 minutes. The Indian pair of Dabas and Divesh Gahlot won the doubles after Sekulic and Shuannon Tricerri retired while losing 2-3 in the first set of the final game. India will play next Thursday in the Philippines. Only the best teams from each of the four groups advanced to the next stage.

Australia, with three wins, finished at the top and was followed by New Zealand. Indonesia was at the bottom of the table behind India. The Davis Cup is the main event of the international men's tennis team. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is disputed annually between teams from competing countries in a direct elimination format. It is described by the organizers as the "Tennis World Cup", and the winners are known as the World Champion team. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. For 2016, 135 nations entered teams in the competition. The most successful countries in the history of the tournament are the United States (winning 32 tournaments and finishing runners-up 29 times) and Australia (winning 28 times, including four times with New Zealand as Australasia, and finishing as runners-up 19 times). The current champions are Croatia, who beat France to win their second title in 2018.

India competed in its first Davis Cup in 1921 but has not yet won the Cup. India finished as runner-up 3 times (1966, 1974, 1987). In 1974, the final was scratched, and South Africa received the Davis Cup after India refused to participate in the final due to the apartheid policies of the South African government. India was a big favorite to win with Vijay Amritraj and Anand Amritraj at their best.

By: Preeti Narula

Content: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/tennis/top-stories/indian-junior-davis-cup-team-loses-1-2-to-australia-finishes-3rd-in-group-d/articleshow/68818402.cms