Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/117483
ITF CENTENARY DEDICATION REWARDED Following its launch at the 100th Davis Cup Final last November, the Davis Cup Commitment Award was given to another group of past and present players during the first ties of 2013. T hey come from four continents, and 17 countries. Some of their nations compete in Group II of Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, some of them in the elite World Group. The youngest is 28, and the oldest 70. But these men have one thing in common: a dedication to the historic team competition that was celebrated in February. The first round ties provided the perfect opportunity for more players to be presented with the Davis Cup Commitment Award in front of their home fans. David Nalbandian, at 31, was one of the youngest men to receive the award as a veteran of 25 Davis Cup ties for Argentina going back to 2002. In that time he has won 37 matches and helped his country reach the final three times. Nalbandian was given his award in Buenos Aires alongside four-time Grand Slam champion Guillermo Vilas and Jose Luis Clerc, who helped Argentina reach the final in 1981. Ricardo Cano and Javier Frana were also honoured. In New Delhi, Leander Paes was recognised for a body of Davis Cup work that stretches back 48 ties, the third most for any player in history after Italy���s Nicola Pietrangeli and Romania���s Ilie Nastase. Paes made his debut 23 years ago, and has appeared in 19 World Group and 30 Asia/Oceania Group I ties through this year���s first round. Receiving his award with Paes was Jaidip Mukerjea, the oldest of February���s recipients. The 70-year-old represented India in 43 ties from 1960 to 1972, and went on to be captain from 1994 to 1999. ���I started the Davis Cup career at the age of 18. We had a very great moment ��� the Davis Cup final in 1966 which was a fantastic effort. I won the doubles with Ramanathan Krishnan; I cannot forget that,��� Mukerjea said. ���Davis Cup was very important to us. There was no ATP Tour. Davis Cup was the ultimate.��� More awards in the World Group went to Olivier Rochus and Filip Dewulf of Belgium, Grant Connell, Sebastien Lareau and Daniel Nestor of Canada, and Alexey Kedryuk of Kazakhstan. Other presentations took place in Bulgaria, Chinese Taipei, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Kuwait, Monaco, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Sri Lanka and Uruguay. The Davis Cup Commitment Award was conceived as part of the ITF Centenary celebrations and to be eligible for it, a player must have competed in a minimum of 20 home-and-away ties or 50 ties at any level of the competition (including Zone Group events) over his career. Three hundred men have so far qualified for the accolade, of whom 252 are still alive, and National Associations will be honouring award winners through presentations at Davis Cup home ties throughout this Centenary year and beyond. A full list of recipients can be found at www.daviscup.com. 6 ITFWORLD SPRING 2013 Ricardo Cano, Guillermo Vilas, David Nalbandian, Javier Frana and Jose Luis Clerc receive their awards in Buenos Aires Jaidip Mukerjea and Leander Paes at the Indian presentation Diego Perez, Marcel Felder and Marcelo Filippini on court in Montevideo, Uruguay