Boppana to be Awarded Davis Cup Committment Award

Ace for Rohan: Boppana to be Awarded Davis Cup Committment Award

The Davis Cup Commitment Award has been conferred on Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna. The recent honour for the ace tennis player had been announced along the sidelines of the World Group playoffs against Serbia. The announcement was made by the International Tennis Federation/ITF.

Through the national associations, the International Tennis Federation will be presenting the award during the 2014 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas and zone group ties. “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,” ITF's President Francesco Ricci Bitti has been quoted by the media as saying.

This is a new award which was conceived as part of the 2013 Centenary celebrations of the International Tennis Federation. It is awarded to those Davis Cup players who have displayed a sincere dedication along a long period of time for representing their country in prestigious competitions and tournaments. The tennis players who are awarded this honour must have completed the following conditions. The award recipient must have competed in at least 20 home and away ties or 50 ties at any level of competition over the course of their career. This also includes week long zone group events.

Apart from Bopanna, the others who have won this award include former Grand Slam winners Lleyton Hewitt from Australia and Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil. Each of the players will be awarded following their respective matches. The first 7 trophies were presented to players on the court at the 100th Davis Cup Final in Prague in the year 2012.

The winners this time include the following players from their respective countries:

- Lleyton Hewitt from Australia.
- Brazil's Carlos Kirmayr, Luiz Mattar, Jaime Oncins , Cassio Motta, Gustavo Kuerten.
- Canada's Frank Dancevic
- Ti Chen from Chinese Taipei
- French player Pierre Darmon
- India's Rohan Bopanna
- Romania's Victor Hanescu
- Russia's Andrei Chesnokov and Andrei Olhovskiy
- Thailand's Sanchai Ratiwatana, Sonchat Ratiwatana, and Danai Udomchoke
- Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky

Davis Cup awardees will be honoured for their talent and commitment to the game.