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, presented further Davis Cup Commitment Awards during last weekend’s 2014 Davis Cup World Group and zone group ties on Saturday, February 1,
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 were made to the following players at their respective Davis Cup home ties before the doubles rubber on Saturday, February 1.
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 recognized on an honors board at the ITF headquarters in London and in a dedicated section on the official Davis Cup website.
Topics: 10sballs, Commitment Award, Davis Cup, Guy Forget, Itf, Max Mirnyi, Radek Stepanek, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Yannick Noah