- The Indian Davis Cup team emerged victorious against Pakistan, securing their spot in World Group I.
- This marked the 1st instance in 60 years that an Indian tennis squad travelled to Pakistan for a Davis Cup match.
About the Davis Cup:
- The Davis Cup came up in 1899 by 4 members of the Harvard University tennis team, led by Dwight F. Davis.
- It was initially known as the International Lawn Tennis Challenge.
- The inaugural (first) event took place in 1900 between teams from the United States and Great Britain, with the United States emerging victorious.
- The Davis Cup is an annual international team event in men’s tennis.
- Governed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
- Only the top 16 nations – the World Group – have a chance to win the Davis Cup.
- India’s debut in the tournament was in 1921, participating in 191 fixtures, winning 114 and losing 77. India hasn’t qualified for the elite World Group since a 4-1 defeat to Serbia in 2011.
- Leander Paes holds the record for the most wins, with 89 victories.
- India reached the Davis Cup finals three times – in 1966, 1974, and 1987.
- 1966: India, led by Ramanathan Krishnan and Jaideep Mukerjea, fell to Australia after victories against Brazil and West Germany.
- 1974: Vijay Amritraj defeated the legendary Bjorn Borg, and Anand Amritraj secured two doubles titles. The team reached the finals against South Africa.
- Despite being considered strong contenders, India refused to participate in the finals in protest against the South African government’s apartheid policies.
- Apartheid was a system of racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s.
