Name of the sportsperson: Ramanathan Krishnan
Discipline: TENNIS PLAYER
State: Chennai
Date of Birth: 11th Apr 1937

In the early 19th century, when lawn tennis was introduced to the Indian masses, the game was dominated by the British, the inventors of the game. Most of the national titles were won by foreign players, largely due to the fact that Indian talent was undiscovered. During the time, the English tennis players dominated the game. Soon after, Indian players started featuring in the game, extensively. They made India's presence felt at the national level. One among the trendsetters, who popularized lawn tennis among the Indians, is Ramanathan Krishnan. He was one among the world's leading tennis players in the 1950s and 1960s. Read on to know more about the profile of retired tennis player - Ramanathan Krishnan.

Achievements:

In 1954, he became the first Asian player to win the boy's singles title at Wimbledon beating Ashley Cooper in the final. Playing for India in the Davis Cup, Krishnan defeated Australia's Rod Laver (the Wimbledon runner-up) in four sets . These performances gained Krishnan seventh seeded status at Wimbledon in
Krishnan also won the Indian national tennis title for eight years at a stretch.

• Received the Arjuna Award in 1961.
• Received the Padma Shri in 1962.
• Received the Padma Bhushan in 1967.
• Won the National Senior Title eight years on the row.
• First Asian to win the Wimbledon junior Singles title.
• Became World No. 3 tennis player in 1960.
• Reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 1960 and 1961

Profile:

Ramanathan Krishnan is undoubtedly one of the best singles tennis players India has ever produced. He played during the 1950s and 1960s. In fact he is associated with Tennis since independence. He started practicing tennis at the Talkatora stadium in Delhi just at the age of ten. He used to practice in the stadium alone after all the seniors had left. Ramanathan Krishnan's father could figure out this potentiality in his son and he arranged the best coaching for his son.

Ramanathan Krishnan played the semifinals of the Wimbledon Championship twice which is still considered a challenging feat by Indian standards even in these days. And his performance has remained unparalleled. He became the Wimbledon junior champion title in 1954 and reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 1960. In 1961,he reached the Wimbledon semi-finals for the second consecutive time but however lost to the great champion Rod Laver. In his course of Tennis career, Ramanathan Krishnan has beaten all the famous Tennis players like Rod Laver, Neil Fraser and Emerson.

Ramanathan Krishna was also a member of the Indian team which reached the Davis Cup final in1966. Ramanathan Krishnan played many exciting matches and with his amazing ground strokes has fascinated the tennis enthusiasts.

Krishnan learned the skills and nuances of tennis from his father - T.K. Ramanathan. After acquiring the skills, Krishnan soon went on to make it big at the national level. He swept all the junior titles at the national circuit, thus emerging as a promising player. In 1954, Ramanathan Krishnan received international accolade, when he became the first Asian player to win the boy's singles title at Wimbledon by defeating Ashley Cooper in the final. In 1960, he made it to the semi-finals of the men's singles competition at Wimbledon. However, he was defeated by Neale Fraser at the event. Nonetheless, Ramanathan reached the Wimbledon semi-finals once again, in the following year.

In 1960, Ramanathan Krishnan was ranked World No.3 tennis player, for the delivery of outstanding performances in a consistent manner. He regularly featured on the Indian Davis Cup team between 1953 and 1975. Due to his remarkable performance at the national level, he was included in the Indian team, to play at the 1966 Davis Cup. The team reached the finals. Ramanathan Krishnan received nationwide accolade for winning the Indian national tennis titles for eight years at a row. Today, even though he has taken retirement from the game, he is remembered for his scintillating performances and the contribution in making tennis in India stand equivalent to other countries at the international stage.His fame off-the-court and on-the-court played a major role in influencing his son Ramesh Krishnan in choosing tennis as a career.

Life after a demanding tennis career has been pretty smooth for Ramanathan Krishnan who manages a gas distribution company in Chennai. A gift from the Government in recognition of his meritorious service to the country.There are innumerable instances where Ramanathan Krishnan has done the country proud with his remarkable success. He truly deserves a place in the Indian Tennis Hall of Fame.