Myneni okay with playing Davis Cup in Pakistan as last resort
MUMBAI: Saketh Myneni, who is part of the India Davis Cup squad for the tie against Pakistan in Islamabad, said he is willing to travel to the neighbouring country as a last resort if the International Tennis Federation (ITF) does not shift the match to a neutral venue.
India are scheduled to play their Asia/oceania Group I tie against Pakistan on November 29-30, but the AITA is hoping the ITF pays heed to its request of moving the tie to a neutral venue. The ITF is expected to make a decision early this week.
Except Myneni, all other players have backed out, and so has non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi. While Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan have expressed reservations about travelling to Pakistan, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Divij Sharan have both pulled out due to personal reasons. “I would love to go to a neutral venue too, especially with the tension building up between both the countries. But I don’t mind going to Pakistan if that’s the last resort and it comes down to either us going or India forfeiting the tie. That’s something we will have to be mindful of,” Myneni said.
BARTY WINS $4.42M SHENZHEN: Ashleigh Barty finished the season by beating defending champion Elina Svitolina 6-4 6-3 to add the WTA Finals title to her end-of-season world number one ranking on Sunday.
Barty became the first Australian to win the WTA Finals since Evonne Goolagong Cawley claimed in 1976. Barty pocketed a record $4.42 million for her win.
DJOKOVIC WINS IN PARIS PARIS: World number one Novak Djokovic saw off Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-4 to win a record-extending fifth Paris Masters title on Sunday. The Serbian faced only one break point in another impressive display to claim a 34th career Masters title.