Davis Cup Commitment Awards presented at first round ties

The ITF, through its National Associations, will present further Davis Cup Commitment Awards during this weekend’s 2015 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group first round and Zone Group ties on Saturday 7 March.

This 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 92.

This weekend presentations will be made to the following players at their respective Davis Cup home ties before the doubles rubber on Saturday 7 March:

Belgium – Jacques Brichant (posthumous)

Great Britain - John Lloyd

Hungary – Istvan Gulyas (posthumous)

Indonesia - Suwandi Suwandi, Bonit Wiryawan

Luxembourg – Johny Goudenbour, Gilles Muller, Mike Scheidweiler

Monaco – Benjamin Balleret, Guillaume Couillard

New Zealand - Jose Statham

Pakistan (*) - Aqeel Khan, Aisam Qureshi

Portugal - Frederico Gil

Thailand - Narathorn Srichaphan, Tanakorn Srichaphan

Zimbabwe - Wayne Black

*presentation at official dinner on 4 March

A total of 327 players have already qualified to receive the award. Presentations will be made to award winners at Davis Cup home ties throughout 2015. 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. A full list of award winners can be viewed here

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."

Davis Cup by BNP Paribas is the World Cup of Tennis. It is the largest annual international team competition in sport, with 126 nations entered in 2015. The competition is 115 years old having been founded in 1900. The title sponsor is BNP Paribas, the Official Bank of Davis Cup. International sponsors are Rolex (Official Timekeeper), Adecco (Official HR Sponsor) and NH Hotels (Official Hotel). beIN SPORTS is the Official Global Media Rights Partner. Follow all the action on www.daviscup.com, www.copadavis.com, www.twitter.com/daviscup, www.facebook.com/DavisCupTennis, www.Weibo.com/daviscupofficial and www.daviscup.tv.

For more information, please contact:

ITF Communications

Tel: +44 (0)20 8392 4632

Email: communications@itftennis.com

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