There have been many Indian tennis players who have achieved greatness in the sport. They have toiled hard to make their name at the top of the game and cement their legacy.
Below is the list of the greatest tennis players to have come out of the country:
1. Leander Paes:
Leander Paes is the most successful tennis player in India. Probably the most decorated tennis star in India, Leander Paes has been nothing short of a revolution in the field of tennis. Paes is considered as one of the greatest doubles players to ever grace the game. He has bagged 18 grand slams in doubles, proving his legacy. However, during his early days, Paes won the 1990 Wimbledon Boys Championship and later went on to become only the second Indian to clinch an Olympic individual medal, bagging the bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in men’s singles. He also holds the record for the most doubles wins in the Davis Cup, five gold medals in the Asian Cup and tons of other accolades in his locker. The 46-year old tennis star has been commemorated with the Khel Ratna, Padma Bhushan and the Arjuna Award for his exceptional contribution towards tennis and Indian sports in general.
2. Sania Mirza:
Sania Mirza is arguably the most famous tennis player in India. A former world No. 1 in the doubles discipline, she has won six Grand Slam titles in her career. Mirza also started as a singles player and at the mere age of 16 she became the first Indian to bag the Junior Wimbledon title in 2003.Throughout her career, Mirza has established herself as by far the most successful Indian female tennis player ever and one of the highest-paid and high-profile athletes in the country. He reached word no.1 in doubles after winning the Wimbledon grand slam in 2015.
3. Mahesh Bhupathi:
Mahesh Bhupathi became the first Indian tennis star to clinch a grand slam in doubles when he won the Roland Garros with Rita Hiraki in 1997. The Chennai-born player was simply one of the best the country has ever seen and his partnership with Leander Paes gave it a different dimension altogether. They were known as the ‘Indian Express’ and won two grand slams in 1999. The duo also qualified for all the four grand slam finals, becoming the No. 1 doubles team in the world. Bhupathi ended his career with exceptional accolades- 12 grand slam titles (8 mixed and 4 doubles) making him one of the top athletes in Indian sport. He also had a great Davis Cup record. Winning the 2006 Australian Open along with Martina Hingis, which completed his career grand slam made him the poster boy of Indian tennis.
4. Vijay Amritraj:
He was the reason Indian tennis was relevant in the 70s and 80s, as the legend reached great heights in the sport. His career-best ranking of 16 in men’s singles at that point of time was very commendable considering the competition. He was simply the best in Asia in that period, Vijay along with his brother Anand formed a lethal doubles team which won many accolades for the nation and is still considered legendary. In his peak years, Vijay Amritraj went head-to-head against the best in the world and won against all-time greats like Bjorn Borg, Rod Laver and John McEnroe. He reached four grand slam quarterfinals and also finished runners-up in the Davis Cup with his brother.
5. Ramanathan Krishnan:
One of the early trendsetters of the game in India, Krishnan was one of the finest in the world during his era. The Chennai legend was the No.7 seed at Wimbledon in 1960, where he had a memorable run and was only defeated by eventual champion Neale Fraser. In the following year, he made his way past several top tennis players to get to the semi-finals, where again he lost out to the eventual champion Rod Laver. With 55 career titles to his name and being as high as world No. 6 in 1961, Ramanathan Krishnan was definitely one of the finest of his era. Although, India has struggled to provide world-class singles players of his mould, Krishnan will be known for his accolades and relentless work that he has done in tennis even after retiring as a player.
6. Rohan Bopanna:
Bopanna started partnering Mahesh Bhupathi in men’s doubles and Sania Mirza in mixed doubles at Davis Cup. In doubles, he partnered Pakistani player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and together the duo won several titles. The pair was fondly named “Indo-Pak Express.” The duo reached the finals of US Open in 2010, but lost out to top-seeded pair of Brian Brothers. He reached the career-best ranking of 3 in July 2013.Rohan along with Sania Mirza narrowly missed the bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Bopanna is still going strong and is aiming for the 2020 Olympics. The high point of his career came in 2017, when the boy from Coorg won the French Open. He became only the fourth Indian after Paes, Bhupathi, and Mirza to win a grand slam. Rohan won the French Open mixed doubles title with Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski.
7. Somdev Devvarman:
In 2010, Somdev won the Gold medal in the Men’s Singles event of Delhi Commonwealth Games. He followed it up winning both Men’s Singles and Doubles Gold at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. In the 2009 Davis Cup campaign Somdev was successful in winning both his matches against Chinese Taipei. He got a wild card entry into the 2011 Australian Open, but ended up losing to Tommy Robredo in the first round. The following year, he was once again awarded a wild card entry. This time it was for the men's singles event, at the London Olympics. Somdev Devvarman for his contribution to Indian tennis fraternity was presented with the Arjuna Award.
