“10s Whenever” Newsletter Vol. 127

Written by: Staff on 3rd February 2014

Tennis Davis Cup: Belarus vs Netherlands

"10s Whenever" Newsletter Vol. 127

epa02243504 Belarussian pair Vladimir Ignatik (R) and Max Mirnyi (L) in action during their doubles match against Dutch pair Thiemo De Bakker and Igor Sijsling on the second day of the Davis Cup match between Belarus and Netherlands in Minsk, Belarus, 10 July 2010 EPA/NIKOLAY YASTREBOV |

Max Mirnyi, Henri Leconte, Vijay Amritraj, Yannick Noah, Are Some Of The Davis Cup Commitment Awards Recipients

Two-time Czech Davis Cup champion Radek Stepanek and former French winners Guy Forget, Henri Leconte, Yannick Noah and Cedric Pioline are among the latest group of players to be presented with the Davis Cup Commitment Award.

The ITF, through its National Associations, will present further Davis Cup Commitment Awards during this weekend’s 2014 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group and zone group ties on Saturday 1 February.

This new award was conceived as part of the ITF’s 2013 Centenary celebrations, and is presented to Davis Cup players who have shown long-standing dedication to representing their country in this prestigious competition. Each award recipient will have competed in a minimum of 20 home-and-away ties or 50 ties at any level of the competition (including week-long zone group events) over their career.

The ITF presented the first seven trophies to players in an on-court presentation at the 100th Davis Cup Final in Prague in 2012. Among the initial recipients were Italy’s Nicola Pietrangeli, who heads the elite list of players having played 66 home or away ties for his country; and San Marino’s Domenico Vicini, who holds the record for the most ties played in all levels of the competition with a total of 89.

This weekend presentations will be made to the following players at their respective Davis Cup home ties before the doubles rubber on Saturday 1 February.

Belarus – Max Mirnyi, Vladimir Voltchkov

Czech Republic – Radek Stepanek

Ecuador – Andres Gomez, Giovanni Lapentti, Nicolas Lapentti, Luis Morejon, Ricardo Ycaza

Finland – Tuomas Ketola, Jarkko Nieminen, Olli Rahnasto

France – Francois Jauffret, Guy Forget, Henri Leconte, Michael Llodra, Yannick Noah, Cedric Pioline

India – Vijay Amritraj

Norway – Jan-Frode Andersen, Christian Ruud

Paraguay – Ramon Delgado

A total of 310 players have already qualified to receive the award. Presentations will be made to award winners at Davis Cup home ties throughout 2014. The Commitment Award trophies are based on the design of the current Davis Cup trophy. All recipients will also be recognised on an honours board at the ITF headquarters in London and in a dedicated section on the official Davis Cup website.

ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “The Davis Cup Commitment Award reflects the dedication by players for more than a century to represent their country in this prestigious competition. These players have continued to rise to the unique challenge of competing in a team environment in front of their home fans, and we believe that it is fitting to recognise their efforts.”

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