In the last few weeks we are celebrating a resurgence of Indian tennis at the Australian open with an unprecedented show of two titles at the same Grand Slam. Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi won their first Grand Slam together making Sania the first Indian woman to win a Grand Slam and the Indian colt Yuki Bhambri becoming the fourth Indian to win a junior Grand Slam after father-son duo of Ramanathan and Ramesh Krishnan and Leander Paes.
But this is not the only time the Indian tennis fans have had their hopes raised about the resurgence of Indian tennis. Relatively recent events like the Paes-Bhupathi dream run of 1999-2000 when they reached all four Grand Slam finals in 1999 and emergence of tennis siren Sania Mirza in 2005 have given tennis enthusiasts much hope.
But if we trace the history of tennis in India since it was brought here by the Britishers we can find may such moments of glory that under those circumstances had seemed more crucial than the recent achievements. In the 1880s the British Army and Civilian Officers taught Indians the game soon after it was originally formalized in Britain. It got popularity here very soon and tennis tournaments were started in the country: `Punjab Lawn tennis Championship` at Lahore in 1885; `Bengal Lawn Tennis Championship` at Kolkata in 1887 and the All India Tennis Championships at Allahabad in 1910. Initially these tournaments were dominated by the Britishers, but then Indians started emerging onto the scene. Players like Mohd. Saleem, NS Iyer and Nagu started the Indian victory season that just kept on rolling after that. Mohd. Saleem the first player to win the Punjab Championship also won the title consecutively from 1919 to 1926. This rise in the game’s popularity gave birth to the All India Lawn Tennis Association (AILTA) in 1920 at Lahore. Its first AGM decided to hold an annual event at Allahabad named `All India National Championships’ and its inaugural edition in 1922 was won by the ‘Punjab Lawn Tennis Association’ team led by Mohd. Saleem.
AILTA’s most crucial decision came in the form of sending an Indian team to the Davis Cup in 1921 as this decision put India on the international tennis map. This first Indian Davis Cup team consisting of prominent players like SM Jacob, Mohd Saleem, LS Deane and AA Fayzee performed exceptionally beating all odds as well as a strong French team to reach the semifinals. The impressive premiere show of Indian tennis at the Davis Cup laid the foundation of great Indian Davis Cup tradition that was further strengthened by the rolling Indian juggernaut between 1922-1929 when it steamrolled a number of strong nations like France, Romania, Holland, Belgium, Spain and Greece. This Indian tennis tide was driven mainly by the greats like Mohd. Sleem, the Fayzee brothers AH Fayzee and AA Fayzee, Krishna Prasad and Cotah Ramaswamy.
Apart from Davis Cup, Indians were also making their mark at other professional tennis tournaments around the globe including the Grand Slams from as early as 1905 when BK Nehru became the first Indian to take part in the prestigious Wimbledon championship. He was followed by Sardar Nihal Singh, M. Saleem, Fayzee brothers and Jagat Mohan Lal. In 1939, the then undisputed numero uno of Indian tennis Ghouse Mohammad went on to reach the quarterfinal of Wimbledon. The Davis Cup and Wimbledon success also translated in notable success at the Olympics. In 1924 Mohd Saleem with Fayzee represented the country in the 1924 Paris Olympics; Saleem even went on to the singles semi-finals. As India continued to reap rich success at prestigious tournaments like the Davis Cup and Wimbledon, the world began to stand up and take notice.
Post World War, AILTA decided to hold one Grass court championship called the National Championships of India and one Hard Court tournament named All India Hard Court Championships. The first edition of Grass Court National Championship was held at Calcutta in 1946. As the National championship was open to foreigners Indians enjoyed less success till the 1950s when Ramanathan Krishnan changed the trend and won the title for a record eight times in a row between 1953 and 1964. Ramanathan Krishnan as a young lad brought home India’s first major success when he was crowned the Junior Wimbledon Champion. He was also the first Asian to do so. He was also seeded 4th at the 1962 Wimbledon. The 1960`s belonged to the troika of Ramanathan Krishnan, Jaideep Mukerjea and Premjit Lal and India kept performing well in the Davis Cup winning the Zonal Championships and also making it to the Inter – Zonal finals. They along with SP Misra were instrumental in taking India to the finals in 1966. Even though India failed to capture the trophy, Krishnan and Mukerjea`s win over New Combe and Tony Roche, the Doubles Wimbledon Champions in 1965 was one of the major upsets in the history of the championships.
A new star, Vijay Amritraj came up on the horizons of Indian tennis in the 1970`s. Even though Amritraj never won any Grand Slam tournaments, His Grand Slam performances of reaching quarterfinals of the US Open in 1973 and 1981 and Wimbledon in 1973 and 1974 are still unmatched by Indians. He even took India to the Davis Cup finals in 1974 along with Shashi Menon, Jasjit Singh and brother Anand Amritraj. Had India not refused to play South Africa in the Finals due to political reasons, we most likely would have got our first title then. After Amritraj, Ramanathan Krishnan’s son Ramesh Krishnan showed that he had the same tennis genes as his father. In fact he outperformed his father and won both the junior Wimbledon as well as the junior French title in 1979 and attained No.1 ranking in junior tennis. In the years to follow, He had a similar run like Amritraj as he reached the quarters at Wimbledon in 1986 and the US Open twice, without the final glory. Krishnan too played a pivotal role in helping India reach the Davis Cup finals for a third time in 1987.
In the modern era of post 1990s, another youngster came to take on the mantle of Indian Tennis. Leander Paes emulating Ramesh Krishnan won two junior Grand Slam titles, Wimbledon in 1990 and US Open in 1991 and became World No1 in junior rankings. His contribution to Indian Davis Cup success is well known. Another singles high point of Leander Paes was when he won the Tennis Singles Bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics beating Fernando Meligeni of Brazil. The dynamic duo of LeanderPaes and Mahesh Bhupathi brought India the first Grand Slam success at the senior level. Their greatest achievements of making it to all the four Grand Slam Doubles Finals in 1999 while winning Wimbledon and US Open was a dream come true. Even though personal differences between this former No. 1 doubles pair in the world brought a split their continuing doubles and mixed doubles Grand Slam trophy victories with different partners keep India firmly on the world tennis map. Mahesh Bhupathi has become India’s most successful player at the Grand Slams with a total of 11 Grand Slam doubles titles (Four Mens Doubles and Seven Mixed Doubles) and Leander has won a total of 8 Grand Slam doubles titles (Four Mens Doubles and Seven Mixed Doubles).
The recent Sania Mirza-Mahesh Bhupathi Australian Open victory was a remarkable feat. Sania has followed it up with her runners up show at the Pataya Open to firmly declare that she is truly back much improved than ever. Sania has been a flag bearer of Indian women’s tennis. After her Fed Cup debut in 2003, she has been known for her giant killing and impressive Grand Slam show. She was the first Indian girl to win Grand Slam when she with Alisa Kleybanova of Russia won the 2003 Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title. Her best Grand Slam Women’s singles result came in 2005 US Open when she reached the 4th Round. Apart from this she has also reached 3rd Round of Australian Open twice and 2nd round of French Open and Wimbledon (Thrice). She is the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India, with a career high ranking of 27 in singles and 18 in doubles. Apart from this she has 12 ITF and one WTF titles to her credit.
Now after Yuki’s Grand Slam victory Indian fans are upbeat again and with Sania too becoming the first Indian woman ever to win a Grand Slam an all round tennis growth looks a likely possibility. With upcoming players like Rohan Bopanna, Prakash Amritraj in Men’s and the Bhambhri sisters Ankita and Sanaa and Isha Lakhani in Women’s the great tradition of Indian Tennis seems to be holding on. What is needed is a little enthusiasm from Corporates, Government and Public towards this game which has been no less than Cricket in terms of international success by miles.
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