Tennis in India

Tennis in India
Leander Paes
Country	India
Governing body	All India Tennis Association
National team(s)	India Davis Cup team (men) India Fed Cup team (women)

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

Indian Tennis player Sania Mirza at 2011 French Open.

History

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 (Now in Pakistan) (1885); 'Bengal Lawn Tennis Championship' at Calcutta (now Kolkata) (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).

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 M Saleem, 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, 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).

The 1990s saw the rise of Leander Paes who won the bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics. In 1997, Mahesh Bhupati 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. 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 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. In 2021 Ankita raina becomes 2nd women from India to win a WTA title and enters into top 100 in doubles rankings.

Grand Slam Finals

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	Mahesh Bhupathi Rika Hiraki	Patrick Galbraith Lisa Raymond	6–4, 6–1
Runner-up	1998	Wimbledon	Grass	Mahesh Bhupathi Mirjana Lučić	Serena Williams Max Mirnyi	4–6, 4–6
Winner	1999	US Open	Hard	Mahesh Bhupathi Ai Sugiyama	Donald Johnson Kimberly Po	6–4, 6–4
Winner	1999	Wimbledon	Grass	Leander Paes Lisa Raymond	Anna Kournikova Jonas Björkman	6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Runner-up	2001	US Open	Hard	Leander Paes Lisa Raymond	Rennae Stubbs Todd Woodbridge	6–4, 5–7, 6–7 (9–11)
Winner	2002	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Mahesh Bhupathi Elena Likhovtseva	Daniela Hantuchová Kevin Ullyett	6–2, 7–5
Winner	2003	Australian Open	Hard	Leander Paes Martina Navratilova	Eleni Daniilidou Todd Woodbridge	6–4, 7–5
Runner-up	2003	French Open	Clay	Mahesh Bhupathi Elena Likhovtseva	Lisa Raymond Mike Bryan	3–6, 4–6
Winner	2003	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	Leander Paes Martina Navratilova	Anastasia Rodionova Andy Ram	6–3, 6–3
Runner-up	2004	Australian Open	Hard	Leander Paes Martina Navratilova	Elena Bovina Nenad Zimonjić	6–1, 7–6
Runner-up	2005	French Open	Clay	Leander Paes Martina Navratilova	Daniela Hantuchová Fabrice Santoro	3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Winner	2005	Wimbledon (4)	Grass	Mahesh Bhupathi Mary Pierce	Tatiana Perebiynis Paul Hanley	6–4, 6–2
Winner	2005	US Open (2)	Hard	Mahesh Bhupathi Daniela Hantuchová	Katarina Srebotnik Nenad Zimonjić	6–4, 6–2
Winner	2006	Australian Open (2)	Hard	Mahesh Bhupathi Martina Hingis	Elena Likhovtseva Daniel Nestor	6–3, 6–3
Runner-up	2007	US Open	Hard	Leander Paes Meghann Shaughnessy	Victoria Azarenka Max Mirnyi	6–4, 7–6(8–6)
Runner-up	2008	Australian Open	Hard	Mahesh Bhupathi Sania Mirza	Sun Tiantian Nenad Zimonjić	6–7(4–7), 4–6
Winner	2008	US Open (3)	Hard	Leander Paes Cara Black	Liezel Huber Jamie Murray	7–6, 6–4
Winner	2009	Australian Open (3)	Hard	Mahesh Bhupathi Sania Mirza	Nathalie Dechy Andy Ram	6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	2009	Wimbledon	Grass	Leander Paes Cara Black	Anna-Lena Grönefeld Mark Knowles	7–5, 6–3
Runner-up	2009	US Open	Hard	Leander Paes Cara Black	Carly Gullickson Travis Parrot	6–2, 6–4
Winner	2010	Australian Open (4)	Hard	Leander Paes Cara Black	Ekaterina Makarova Jaroslav Levinský	7–5, 6–3
Winner	2010	Wimbledon (5)	Grass	Leander Paes Cara Black	Lisa Raymond Wesley Moodie	6–4, 7–6
Runner-up	2011	Wimbledon	Grass	Mahesh Bhupathi Elena Vesnina	Iveta Benešová Jürgen Melzer	3–6, 2–6
Runner-up	2012	Australian Open	Hard	Leander Paes Elena Vesnina	Bethanie Mattek-Sands Horia Tecău	3–6, 7–5, [3–10]
Winner	2012	French Open (2)	Clay	Mahesh Bhupathi Sania Mirza	Klaudia Jans-Ignacik Santiago González	7–6(7–3), 6–1
Runner-up	2012	Wimbledon	Grass	Leander Paes Elena Vesnina	Lisa Raymond Mike Bryan	3–6, 7–5, 4–6
Runner-up	2014	Australian Open	Hard	Horia Tecău Sania Mirza	Kristina Mladenovic Daniel Nestor	3–6, 2–6
Winner	2014	US Open	Hard	Bruno Soares Sania Mirza	Abigail Spears Santiago González	6–1, 2–6, [11–9]
Winner	2015	Australian Open (3)	Hard	Leander Paes Martina Hingis	Kristina Mladenovic Daniel Nestor	6–4, 6–3
Winner	2015	Wimbledon (4)	Grass	Leander Paes Martina Hingis	Alexander Peya Timea Babos	6–1, 6–1
Winner	2017	French Open	Clay	Gabriela Dabrowski Rohan Bopanna	Anna-Lena Grönefeld Robert Farah	2–6, 6–2, [12–10]
Runner up	2018	Australian Open	Hard	Tímea Babos Rohan Bopanna	Gabriela Dabrowski Mate Pavić	6–2, 4–6, [9–11]

Men's Doubles

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Players	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1999	Australian Open	Hard	Leander Paes Mahesh Bhupathi	Jonas Björkman Patrick Rafter	3–6, 6–4, 4–6, 7–6(12–10), 4–6
Winner	1999	French Open	Clay	Leander Paes Mahesh Bhupathi	Goran Ivanišević Jeff Tarango	6–2, 7–5
Winner	1999	Wimbledon	Grass	Leander Paes Mahesh Bhupathi	Paul Haarhuis Jared Palmer	6–7, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6
Runner-up	1999	US Open	Hard	Leander Paes Mahesh Bhupathi	Sébastien Lareau Alex O'Brien	6–7, 4–6
Winner	2001	French Open (2)	Clay	Leander Paes Mahesh Bhupathi	Petr Pála Pavel Vízner	7–6, 6–3
Winner	2002	US Open	Hard	Mahesh Bhupathi Max Mirnyi	Jiří Novák Radek Štěpánek	6–3, 3–6, 6–4
Runner-up	2003	Wimbledon	Grass	Mahesh Bhupathi Max Mirnyi	Jonas Björkman Todd Woodbridge	6–3, 3–6, 6–7(4–7), 3–6
Runner-up	2004	US Open	Hard	Leander Paes David Rikl	Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor	3–6, 3–6
Runner-up	2006	Australian Open	Hard	Leander Paes Martin Damm	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Winner	2006	US Open (2)	Hard	Leander Paes Martin Damm	Jonas Björkman Max Mirnyi	6–7(5–7), 6–4, 6–3
Runner-up	2008	US Open	Hard	Leander Paes Lukáš Dlouhý	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–7(5–7), 6–7(10–12)
Runner-up	2009	Australian Open	Hard	Mahesh Bhupathi Mark Knowles	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–2, 5–7, 0–6
Winner	2009	French Open (3)	Clay	Leander Paes Lukáš Dlouhý	Wesley Moodie Dick Norman	3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	2009	US Open	Hard	Mahesh Bhupathi Mark Knowles	Lukáš Dlouhý Leander Paes	6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Winner	2009	US Open (3)	Hard	Leander Paes Lukáš Dlouhý	Mahesh Bhupathi Mark Knowles	3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	2010	French Open	Clay	Leander Paes Lukáš Dlouhý	Nenad Zimonjić Daniel Nestor	5–7, 2–6
Runner-up	2010	US Open	Hard	Rohan Bopanna Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–7(5–7), 6–7(4–7)
Runner-up	2011	Australian Open	Hard	Leander Paes Mahesh Bhupathi	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	3–6, 4–6
Winner	2012	Australian Open	Hard	Leander Paes Radek Štěpánek	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	7–6(7–1), 6–2
Runner-up	2012	US Open	Hard	Leander Paes Radek Štěpánek	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	3–6, 4–6
Winner	2013	US Open (4)	Hard	Leander Paes Radek Štěpánek	Alexander Peya Bruno Soares	6–1, 6–3

Women's Doubles

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

Total medals won by Indian Tennis players in Major tournaments

Competition	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Olympic Games	0	0	1	1
Davis Cup	0	3	1	4
Commonwealth Games	1	1	2	4
Asian Games	9	6	17	32
Total	10	10	21	41

Notable Performance at Summer Olympics

Year	Event	Player	Result	Notes
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
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

See also

• All India Tennis Association
• India Davis Cup team
• India Fed Cup team
• India at the Hopman Cup