The greatest Indian tennis players of all time

India has provided the world with some of the best talents in every sport. Tennis however, has made a significant contribution to the country’s sporting history and culture. Here are the greatest Indian tennis players of all time who have made achievements on and off the court.

Ramanathan Krishnan

Before ATP rankings were introduced, Ramanathan Krishnan made it onto Lance Tingay’s amateur rankings at number 6. He was the first player from Asia who won the Boys singles title in Wimbledon in 1954. He remained undefeated in the All India Championships for 6 times and also managed to reach the finals for a total of 8. He is the recipient of the Padma Shri, Arjuna award and Padma Bhushan.

Vijay Amritraj

Vijay Amritraj (Source: Punjab Marshalls/Facebook)

Vijay Amritraj is a veteran Indian tennis player who won a total of 13 doubles titles and 16 singles titles. He had a colourful athletic career having competed in the Wimbledon championships, Grand Slam and was also part of the Indian Davis Cup. He also had a brief career as an actor, starring in many movies and showcased how versatile an athlete can be. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1983.

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Ramesh Krishnan

Vasudevan Srinivasan, Anand Amritraj and Ramesh Krishnan – Members of the 1987 Davis Cup final team

Coming from a family that has a passion for tennis, Ramesh Krishnan, son of Ramanathan Krishnan, carried on his father’s legacy by winning the Wimbledon Junior title in 1979. He played an important role in the Indian Davis Cup team that reached the finals in 1987. He partnered with Leander Paes in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics where the duo reached the finals. He later became captain of the Indian Davis Cup in 2007.

Leander Paes

Leander Paes is a veteran Indian tennis player who has competed in the Olympics since 1992 and is the only Indian tennis player to win an Olympic medal. He is also looking forward to competing in the now postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He partnered with Ramesh Krishnan in doubles in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics where the duo reached quarter finals. He is the recipient of Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, Arjuna Award and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.

Mahesh Bhupathi

Mahesh Bhupathi (Source: TOI)

Though now retired, Mahesh Bhupathi is another tennis player who’s contributions to the country are being the first Indian to win a Grand Slam tournament. He won three doubles titles with Leader Paes in 1999 and also won a total of eight titles in mixed doubles. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2001. He had an iconic partnership with Leander Paes and the duo have a total career record of 303-103.

Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza (Image: The Secular_News)

Sania Mirza is the only Indian tennis player to a WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) title. She won a total of seven grand slam titles and is also a former World No. 1 doubles player, a record she held for 91 weeks. She began at the early age of six until her retirement from singles in 2013. She is a recipient of Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Arjuna award and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. In October 2005, she was named as one of the “50 Heroes of Asia” by Time.

Somdev Devvarman

Somdev Devvarman (Image: HT)

Somdev Devvarman has a career that started in college during his time at University of Virginia. In 2008, he had a win to loss ratio of 44-1 in the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship. He has competed in various competitions such as the Davis Cup, Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and US Open. He reached his first ATP finals in the Chennai Open 2009 and was the highest ranked singles tennis player from India. He was felicitated with the Arjuna award in 2011 and the Padma Shri in 2018.

Rohan Bopanna

Rohan Bopanna (Image: Twitter)

Rohan Bopanna started his tennis journey at the age of 11 and made his debut for the Davis Cup in 2002. He has since gone on to win the ATP title in 2009 with Eric Butorac and partnered with Mahesh Bhupathi in 2010, reaching the quarterfinals of the Chennai Open. He reached the semi finals and is the last Indian to have won the Grand Slam in 2017, after which there have been no wins. He ranked as World No. 3 in his tennis doubles career in 2013 and is the fourth Indian tennis player to win a Grand Slam title.

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