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Tennis in India

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tennis in India
Country India
Governing bodyAll India Tennis Association
National team(s)India Davis Cup team
India Billie Jean King Cup team
Club competitions
Tennis Premier League (2018–present)

Tennis enjoys a considerable following in India. Although it is limited to urban areas but still it is counted among the most popular national sports.[1] India has produced a number of tennis players, who have achieved international recognition and made their presence in some of the top tennis tournaments and grand slams.[2] All India Tennis Association established in 1920, is the governing body of tennis in India and is a member of the Asian Tennis Federation.[3] India Davis Cup team is the most successful team of Asia in Davis Cup, who has finished as runners-up 3 times.[4]

History

[edit]

Tennis has been a popular sport in India since around the 1880s when the British Army and civilian officers brought the game to India. Soon after regular tournaments like the Punjab Lawn Tennis Championship at Lahore (Pakistan, 1885); Bengal Lawn Tennis Championship at Calcutta (1887), and the All India Tennis Championships at Allahabad (1910) were organised. In the history of major tournaments, India has already beaten among others France, Romania, Holland, Belgium, Spain and Greece in Davis Cup ties (1921 to 1929).[5][6]

The history of tennis in India goes back a long way. In the 1880s, the British introduced the game of tennis in India during the colonial rule and soon it started gaining momentum. BK Nehru in 1905 and Sardar Nihal Singh in 1908 were later joined by Mohammed Sleem, Fayzee brothers and Jagat Mohan Lal who made it to last 16 stages at the Wimbledon. Ghaus Mohammad was the first Indian to reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 1939 where he lost to American champion Bobby Riggs.

According to the All India Tennis Association, in Davis Cup ties between 1921 and 1929, India beat, among others, France, Romania, Holland, Belgium, Spain and Greece. Top Indian players like Saleem, the Fayzee brothers, Cotah Ramaswamy and Krishna Prasad beat a large number of ranked European players and teams to bring glory to the nation.

In the 1960s, the sport witnessed a golden era. Ramanathan Krishnan earned his highest seeding – No. 4 in Wimbledon in 1962. In the Davis Cup, India repeatedly became the Zonal Champions. Ramanathan Krishnan, along with Premjit Lall, SP Misra, Jaidip Mukerjea and RK Khanna as the non-playing captain, steered India to the Cup finals in 1966. They lost the Cup but not before Krishnan and Mukerjea beat Newcombe and Tony Roche, the Wimbledon champions, (1965) in doubles.

In the 1970s, Vijay Amritraj burst onto the scene. With teammates Sashi Menon, Jasjit Singh and brother Anand Amritraj, Vijay took India to World Cup Finals for the second time in 1974. Vijay also made it to the quarterfinals of US Open in 1973 and 1981; and Wimbledon in 1973 and 1974. Ramesh Krishnan, the son of Ramanathan Krishnan, won the junior Wimbledon championship and junior French Open title in 1979 and was ranked number 1 junior in the world. He made it to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon (1986) and US Open (twice).[7]

The 1990s saw the rise of Leander Paes who won the bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics. In 1997, Mahesh Bhupathi became India's first ever grand slam winner when he won the mixed doubles at French Open. Paes partnered with Bhupati to reach the finals of all four grand slams in 1999, winning two.[8] In the 2000s and 2010s, playing separately or together, Paes and Bhupati won several grand slam doubles and mixed doubles tournaments.

The 2000s saw India's first WTA tournament winner Sania Mirza. Mirza also won a number of grand slam titles in doubles in the late 2000s and 2010s.

India's last 2010s grand slam win came in 2017 when Rohan Bopanna won the mixed doubles title at French Open. At the end of 2010s, Prajnesh Gunneswaran was the only Indian men's singles player in the top 100.[9] In 2021 Ankita Raina became the 2nd woman from India to win a WTA title and enter into top 100 doubles rankings. India's latest grand slam win came in 2024 with Rohan Bopanna winning the men's doubles title at Australian Open.

In February 2024, Sumit Nagal made his top 100 debut becoming the tenth Indian tennis player to reach the Top 100,[10] which he reached by defeating Luca Nardi in the final of the Challenger in Chennai.[11][12]

Medal table

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Competition Gold Silver Bronze Total
Olympic Games 0 0 1 1
Davis Cup 0 3 5 8
Commonwealth Games 1 1 2 4
Asian Games 10 7 17 34
Total 11 11 25 47
  • Updated till 5th August 2024

Grand Slam finals

[edit]

In 1997, India won their first Grand Slam title at the French Open, in the mixed doubles. Since then Indians have won Grand Slam titles in the mixed doubles, men's doubles, women's doubles besides girls' doubles events. No Indian has so far won a Grand Slam Singles title in the men's or women's category.

Mixed doubles

Outcome Year Championship Surface Players Opponents in the final Score in the final
Winner 1997 French Open Clay India Mahesh Bhupathi
Japan Rika Hiraki
United States Patrick Galbraith
United States Lisa Raymond
6–4, 6–1
Runner-up 1998 Wimbledon Grass India Mahesh Bhupathi
Croatia Mirjana Lučić
United States Serena Williams
Belarus Max Mirnyi
4–6, 4–6
Winner 1999 US Open Hard India Mahesh Bhupathi
Japan Ai Sugiyama
Donald Johnson
United States Kimberly Po
6–4, 6–4
Winner 1999 Wimbledon Grass India Leander Paes
United States Lisa Raymond
Russia Anna Kournikova
Sweden Jonas Björkman
6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Runner-up 2001 US Open Hard India Leander Paes
United States Lisa Raymond
Australia Rennae Stubbs
Australia Todd Woodbridge
6–4, 5–7, 6–7 (9–11)
Winner 2002 Wimbledon (2) Grass India Mahesh Bhupathi
Russia Elena Likhovtseva
Slovakia Daniela Hantuchová
Zimbabwe Kevin Ullyett
6–2, 7–5
Winner 2003 Australian Open Hard India Leander Paes
United States Martina Navratilova
Greece Eleni Daniilidou
Australia Todd Woodbridge
6–4, 7–5
Runner-up 2003 French Open Clay India Mahesh Bhupathi
Russia Elena Likhovtseva
United States Lisa Raymond
United States Mike Bryan
3–6, 4–6
Winner 2003 Wimbledon (3) Grass India Leander Paes
United States Martina Navratilova
Russia Anastasia Rodionova
Israel Andy Ram
6–3, 6–3
Runner-up 2004 Australian Open Hard India Leander Paes
United States Martina Navratilova
Russia Elena Bovina
Serbia and Montenegro Nenad Zimonjić
6–1, 7–6
Runner-up 2005 French Open Clay India Leander Paes
United States Martina Navratilova
Slovakia Daniela Hantuchová
France Fabrice Santoro
3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Winner 2005 Wimbledon (4) Grass India Mahesh Bhupathi
France Mary Pierce
Ukraine Tatiana Perebiynis
Australia Paul Hanley
6–4, 6–2
Winner 2005 US Open (2) Hard India Mahesh Bhupathi
Slovakia Daniela Hantuchová
Slovenia Katarina Srebotnik
Serbia Nenad Zimonjić
6–4, 6–2
Winner 2006 Australian Open (2) Hard India Mahesh Bhupathi
Switzerland Martina Hingis
Russia Elena Likhovtseva
Canada Daniel Nestor
6–3, 6–3
Runner-up 2007 US Open Hard India Leander Paes
United States Meghann Shaughnessy
Belarus Victoria Azarenka
Belarus Max Mirnyi
6–4, 7–6(8–6)
Runner-up 2008 Australian Open Hard India Mahesh Bhupathi
India Sania Mirza
China Sun Tiantian
Serbia Nenad Zimonjić
6–7(4–7), 4–6
Winner 2008 US Open (3) Hard India Leander Paes
Zimbabwe Cara Black
United States Liezel Huber
United Kingdom Jamie Murray
7–6, 6–4
Winner 2009 Australian Open (3) Hard India Mahesh Bhupathi
India Sania Mirza
France Nathalie Dechy
Israel Andy Ram
6–3, 6–1
Runner-up 2009 Wimbledon Grass India Leander Paes
Zimbabwe Cara Black
Germany Anna-Lena Grönefeld
The Bahamas Mark Knowles
7–5, 6–3
Runner-up 2009 US Open Hard India Leander Paes
Zimbabwe Cara Black
United States Carly Gullickson
United States Travis Parrot
6–2, 6–4
Winner 2010 Australian Open (4) Hard India Leander Paes
Zimbabwe Cara Black
Russia Ekaterina Makarova
Czech Republic Jaroslav Levinský
7–5, 6–3
Winner 2010 Wimbledon (5) Grass India Leander Paes
Zimbabwe Cara Black
United States Lisa Raymond
South Africa Wesley Moodie
6–4, 7–6
Runner-up 2011 Wimbledon Grass India Mahesh Bhupathi
Russia Elena Vesnina
Czech Republic Iveta Benešová
Austria Jürgen Melzer
3–6, 2–6
Runner-up 2012 Australian Open Hard India Leander Paes
Russia Elena Vesnina
United States Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Romania Horia Tecău
3–6, 7–5, [3–10]
Winner 2012 French Open (2) Clay India Mahesh Bhupathi
India Sania Mirza
Poland Klaudia Jans-Ignacik
Mexico Santiago González
7–6(7–3), 6–1
Runner-up 2012 Wimbledon Grass India Leander Paes
Russia Elena Vesnina
United States Lisa Raymond
United States Mike Bryan
3–6, 7–5, 4–6
Runner-up 2014 Australian Open Hard Romania Horia Tecău
India Sania Mirza
France Kristina Mladenovic
Canada Daniel Nestor
3–6, 2–6
Winner 2014 US Open Hard Brazil Bruno Soares
India Sania Mirza
United States Abigail Spears
Mexico Santiago González
6–1, 2–6, [11–9]
Winner 2015 Australian Open (3) Hard India Leander Paes
Switzerland Martina Hingis
France Kristina Mladenovic
Canada Daniel Nestor
6–4, 6–3
Winner 2015 Wimbledon (4) Grass India Leander Paes
Switzerland Martina Hingis
Austria Alexander Peya
Hungary Tímea Babos
6–1, 6–1
Winner 2017 French Open Clay Canada Gabriela Dabrowski
India Rohan Bopanna
Germany Anna-Lena Grönefeld
Colombia Robert Farah
2–6, 6–2, [12–10]
Runner up 2018 Australian Open Hard Hungary Tímea Babos
India Rohan Bopanna
Canada Gabriela Dabrowski
Croatia Mate Pavić
6–2, 4–6, [9–11]
Runner up 2023 Australian Open Hard India Rohan Bopanna
India Sania Mirza
Brazil Luisa Stefani
Brazil Rafael Matos
6–7(2–7), 2-6

Men's doubles

Outcome Year Championship Surface Players Opponents in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 1999 Australian Open Hard India Leander Paes
India Mahesh Bhupathi
Sweden Jonas Björkman
Australia Patrick Rafter
3–6, 6–4, 4–6, 7–6(12–10), 4–6
Winner 1999 French Open Clay India Leander Paes
India Mahesh Bhupathi
Croatia Goran Ivanišević
United States Jeff Tarango
6–2, 7–5
Winner 1999 Wimbledon Grass India Leander Paes
India Mahesh Bhupathi
Netherlands Paul Haarhuis
United States Jared Palmer
6–7, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6
Runner-up 1999 US Open Hard India Leander Paes
India Mahesh Bhupathi
Canada Sébastien Lareau
United States Alex O'Brien
6–7, 4–6
Winner 2001 French Open (2) Clay India Leander Paes
India Mahesh Bhupathi
Czech Republic Petr Pála
Czech Republic Pavel Vízner
7–6, 6–3
Winner 2002 US Open Hard India Mahesh Bhupathi
Belarus Max Mirnyi
Czech Republic Jiří Novák
Czech Republic Radek Štěpánek
6–3, 3–6, 6–4
Runner-up 2003 Wimbledon Grass India Mahesh Bhupathi
Belarus Max Mirnyi
Sweden Jonas Björkman
Australia Todd Woodbridge
6–3, 3–6, 6–7(4–7), 3–6
Runner-up 2004 US Open Hard India Leander Paes
Czech Republic David Rikl
The Bahamas Mark Knowles
Canada Daniel Nestor
3–6, 3–6
Runner-up 2006 Australian Open Hard India Leander Paes
Czech Republic Martin Damm
United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Winner 2006 US Open (2) Hard India Leander Paes
Czech Republic Martin Damm
Sweden Jonas Björkman
Belarus Max Mirnyi
6–7(5–7), 6–4, 6–3
Runner-up 2008 US Open Hard India Leander Paes
Czech Republic Lukáš Dlouhý
United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
6–7(5–7), 6–7(10–12)
Runner-up 2009 Australian Open Hard India Mahesh Bhupathi
The Bahamas Mark Knowles
United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
6–2, 5–7, 0–6
Winner 2009 French Open (3) Clay India Leander Paes
Czech Republic Lukáš Dlouhý
South Africa Wesley Moodie
Belgium Dick Norman
3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Runner-up 2009 US Open Hard India Mahesh Bhupathi
The Bahamas Mark Knowles
Czech Republic Lukáš Dlouhý
India Leander Paes
6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Winner 2009 US Open (3) Hard India Leander Paes
Czech Republic Lukáš Dlouhý
India Mahesh Bhupathi
The Bahamas Mark Knowles
3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Runner-up 2010 French Open Clay India Leander Paes
Czech Republic Lukáš Dlouhý
Serbia Nenad Zimonjić
Canada Daniel Nestor
5–7, 2–6
Runner-up 2010 US Open Hard India Rohan Bopanna
Pakistan Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi
United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
6–7(5–7), 6–7(4–7)
Runner-up 2011 Australian Open Hard India Leander Paes
India Mahesh Bhupathi
United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
3–6, 4–6
Winner 2012 Australian Open Hard India Leander Paes
Czech Republic Radek Štěpánek
United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
7–6(7–1), 6–2
Runner-up 2012 US Open Hard India Leander Paes
Czech Republic Radek Štěpánek
United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
3–6, 4–6
Winner 2013 US Open (4) Hard India Leander Paes
Czech Republic Radek Štěpánek
Austria Alexander Peya
Brazil Bruno Soares
6–1, 6–3
Winner 2024 Australian Open Hard India Rohan Bopanna
Australia Matthew Ebden
Italy Simone Bolelli
Italy Andrea Vavassori
7–6(7–0), 7–5

Women's doubles

Outcome Year Championship Surface Players Opponents in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 2011 French Open Clay India Sania Mirza
Russia Elena Vesnina
Czech Republic Andrea Hlaváčková
Czech Republic Lucie Hradecká
4–6, 3–6
Winner 2015 Wimbledon Grass India Sania Mirza
Switzerland Martina Hingis
Russia Ekaterina Makarova
Russia Elena Vesnina
5–7, 7–6(7–4), 7–5
Winner 2015 US Open Hard India Sania Mirza
Switzerland Martina Hingis
Australia Casey Dellacqua
Kazakhstan Yaroslava Shvedova
6–3, 6–3
Winner 2016 Australian Open Hard India Sania Mirza
Switzerland Martina Hingis
Czech Republic Andrea Hlaváčková
Czech Republic Lucie Hradecká
7–6(7–1), 6-3

Current rankings

[edit]

Women's singles

[edit]
# Player World Rank
1 Ankita Raina 299
2 Shrivalli Bhamidipaty 301
3 Sahaja Yamalapalli 307
4 Vaidehi Chaudhari 387
5 Rutuja Bhosale 425
6 Zeel Desai 573
7 Vaishnavi Adkar 658
8 Riya Bhatia 719
9 Tanisha Kashyap 888

Men's singles

[edit]
# Player World Rank
1 Sumit Nagal 93
2 Ramkumar Ramanathan 308
3 Mukund Sasikumar 367
4 Karan Singh 502

Women's doubles

[edit]
# Player World Rank
1 Prarthana Thombare 141
2 Rutuja Bhosale 207
3 Ankita Raina 235
5 Vasanti Shinde 266

Men's doubles

[edit]
# Player World Rank
1 Rohan Bopanna 8
2 Yuki Bhambri 44
3 Sriram Balaji 61
4 Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli 75
5 Arjun Kadhe 76

Highest ranked players

[edit]

Top 100 Ranked Players

[edit]

The list include Indian players who have had a ranking inside the ATP or WTA top 100. The rankings were introduced in 1973 (men) and 1975 (women).[14]

Men's Singles

[edit]
Player Ranking Date reached
top 100
Date reached
highest ranking
ATP Tour
High Current Turned Pro Retired Titles
Vijay Amritraj 18 N/A 1973, August 23 1980, October 20 1970 1993 15
Ramesh Krishnan 23 N/A 1979, May 21 1985, January 28 1976 1993 8
Somdev Devvarman 62 N/A 2010, August 2 2011, July 25 2002 2016 0
Sumit Nagal 68 83 2024, July 15 2024, July 15 2013 0
Sashi Menon 71 N/A 1975, September 16 1975, October 21 1970 1985 0
Leander Paes 73 N/A 1997, September 8 1998, October 24 1990 2008 1
Anand Amritraj 74 N/A 1973, September 26 1974, November 6 1968 1990 0
Prajnesh Gunneswaran 75 N/A 2019, February 11 2019, April 22 2007 0
Yuki Bhambri 83 N/A 2015, October 19 2018, April 16 2007 0
Jasjit Singh 89 N/A 1973, November 26 1974, June 3 1965 1979 0

Women's Singles

[edit]
Player Ranking Date reached
top 100
Date reached
highest ranking
WTA Tour
High Current Turned Pro Retired Titles
Sania Mirza 27 N/A 2005, February 14 2007, August 27 2003 2013 1

Notable performances at Olympics

[edit]
Year Event Player Result
1924
Men's singles Sydney Jacob Quarter-finals
Men's doubles Syed Mohammad Hadi
Donald Rutnam
Quarter-finals
1992
Men's doubles Leander Paes
Ramesh Krishnan
Quarter-finals
1996
Men's singles Leander Paes 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2004
Men's doubles Leander Paes
Mahesh Bhupathi
4th
2008
Men's doubles Leander Paes
Mahesh Bhupathi
Quarter-finals
2012
Mixed doubles Leander Paes
Sania Mirza
Quarter-finals
2016
Mixed doubles Rohan Bopanna
Sania Mirza
4th

National award recipients

[edit]
Year Recipient Award Gender
1996–1997 Leander Paes Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Male
2015 Sania Mirza Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Female
1961 Ramanathan Krishnan Arjuna Award Male
1962 Naresh Kumar Arjuna Award Male
1966 Jaidip Mukerjea Arjuna Award Male
1967 Premjit Lall Arjuna Award Male
1974 Vijay Amritraj Arjuna Award Male
1978–1979 Nirupama Mankad Arjuna Award Female
1980–1981 Ramesh Krishnan Arjuna Award Male
1985 Anand Amritraj Arjuna Award Male
1990 Leander Paes Arjuna Award Male
1995 Mahesh Bhupathi Arjuna Award Male
1996 Gaurav Natekar Arjuna Award Male
1997 Asif Ismail Arjuna Award Male
2000 Akhtar Ali + Arjuna Award Male
2001 Sandeep Kirtane Arjuna Award Male
2004 Sania Mirza Arjuna Award Female
2011 Somdev Devvarman Arjuna Award Male
2017 Saketh Myneni Arjuna Award Male
2018 Rohan Bopanna Arjuna Award Male
2020 Divij Sharan Arjuna Award Male
2021 Ankita Raina Arjuna Award Female
2014 Zeeshan Ali Dhyan Chand Award Male
2015 Shiv Prakash Mishra Dhyan Chand Award Male
2019 Nitin Kirtane Dhyan Chand Award Male
2020 Nandan P. Bal Dhyan Chand Award Male
2020 Naresh Kumar + Dronacharya Award Male
Key
   + Indicates a Lifetime contribution honour

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Robertson, Max (1974). The encyclopedia of tennis. London: Allen and Unwin. p. 392. ISBN 0-04-796042-6. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022.
  2. ^ "Tennis in India". Archived from the original on 20 January 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  3. ^ "National Associations and their Offices". Asian Tennis Federation. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  4. ^ "Champions". Davis Cup (official website). Archived from the original on 22 December 2010. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  5. ^ "AITA History". All India Tennis Association. Archived from the original on 22 November 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  6. ^ Tilden, William Tatem & Fletcher, John (2004). The Art of Lawn Tennis. U.S.: Kessinger Publishing. p. 128. ISBN 1-4191-5265-3.
  7. ^ "News, Breaking News, Latest News, News Headlines, Live News, Today News CNN-News18". Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Latest Volume16-Issue13 News, Photos, Latest News Headlines about Volume16-Issue13".
  9. ^ "Rankings | Singles".
  10. ^ "Indian Nagal breaks Top 100, Mover of Week".
  11. ^ "Nagal's Historic 5th Challenger Title". 12 February 2024.
  12. ^ "India's Sumit Nagal secures Top 100 ranking debut after winning Chennai Challenger".
  13. ^ "Tennis Explorer: Tennis Rankings, WTA & ATP Rankings". www.tennisexplorer.com. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  14. ^ ATP Media (25 December 2023). Media Guide 2024. ATP.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)

Further reading

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