London, Sept 12, 2013: World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will be one of 27 players to receive the Davis Cup Commitment Award during this weekend’s Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group and zone group ties on Saturday 14 September. The presentations are being made by the ITF through its National Associations.
This new award was conceived as part of the ITF’s 2013 Centenary celebrations, and will be 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 last November. Among those presented with awards at last year’s final 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 14 September:
Belgium* – Patrick Hombergen
Croatia** – Boro Jovanovic
Dominican Republic – Victor Estrella
Germany – Jurgen Fassbender
Latvia – Andis Juska, Deniss Pavlovs
Netherlands – Paul Haarhuis
Philippines – Felicisimo Ampon (posthumous), Johnny Arcilla, Raymundo Deyro, Juan Johnson Jose
Serbia – Novak Djokovic, Janko Tipsarevic, Nenad Zimonjic, Slobodan Zivojinovic
Slovak Republic – Dominik Hrbaty, Karol Kucera
Slovenia – Marko Tkalec, Grega Zemlja
Switzerland – Heinz Gunthardt, Jakob Hlasek, Marc Rosset
United Arab Emirates – Esam Abdulaal (BRN), Sultan Khalfan Al Alawi (QAT), Omar Al Awadhy (UAE), Mahmoud Nader Alblooshi (UAE), Khalid Al Nabhani (OMA)
*presentation to be made on Friday 13 September
**presentation to be made on Thursday 12 September
A total of 305 players have already qualified to receive the award, of whom 258 are still alive. Presentations have been made to award winners at Davis Cup home ties throughout 2013. 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 in our centenary year.”
About Davis Cup by BNP Paribas
Davis Cup by BNP Paribas is the largest annual international team competition in sport with 130 nations taking part in 2013 in the ITF’s centenary year. The competition is 114 years old having been founded in 1900. The title sponsor is BNP Paribas, the Official Bank of Davis Cup. International sponsors are HP (Official Technology Sponsor), Rolex (Official Timekeeper) Hugo Boss (Official Men’s Fashion Clothing Sponsor), Adecco (Official HR Sponsor) and NH Hoteles (Official Hotel). Wilson Sporting Goods (Official Ball) is an international partner. —- ITF/Photo: Srdjan Stevanovic
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