India has produced several Grand Slam players in doubles and mixed doubles in tennis. The Singles performance however has had nothing noteworthy. Only 3 Indian players ever have been a part of top 25 singles world rankings with one of them even making it to the top 10. Let’s look back at those 3 players and their careers.
3. Ramanathan Krishnan
He is regarded as the best ever tennis player India ever produced. The pioneer of Indian tennis, Krishnan was one of the best tennis players in the World in 1950s and1960s.
He was twice a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 1960 and 1961. He also reached the quarterfinal stage at Roland Garros in 1962. Krishnan also reached the World Number 6 in the then amateur rankings and represented India in 6 Davis Cup tournaments. Krishnan won 55 titles in his 15 year long career.
2. Ramesh Krishnan
Ramesh Krishnan was the son of Ramanathan Krishnan who pioneered Indian tennis in 1960s. Ramesh was a juniors Grand Slam champion at the French Open and Wimbledon.
He also reached the quarterfinals of the US Open twice in the years 1981 and 1987. Ramesh also finished as a Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 1986. He also defeated the then World Number 1 in 1989 Australian Open. Ramesh won 319 singles matches in his professional career.
1. Vijay Amritraj
Amritraj was the last top 20 singles tennis player India has produced. The 2 time Wimbledon and 2 times US Open quarter-finalist won 392 singles matches in his professional career. He won 18 singles career titles and climbed up to the ranking of World Number 16.
Amritraj had some memorable victories in his career over former World Number 1 players like John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Stan Smith. In doubles also Amritraj has considerable success reaching to the semifinal of 1981 Wimbledon Championships.