Ramesh Krishnan (born 5 June 1961) is an Indian
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
coach and former professional
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player. As a junior player in the late 1970s, he won the singles titles at both,
Wimbledon and the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
. He went on to reach three
Grand Slam quarterfinals in the 1980s and was a part of the
Indian team captained by
Vijay Amritraj which reached the final of the
Davis Cup in
1987
Events January
* January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency.
* January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade.
* January 3 – Afghan leader ...
against Sweden. Krishnan also beat then-world No. 1,
Mats Wilander, at the
1989 Australian Open. He became India's Davis Cup captain in 2007.
Early life
Ramesh was born in
Madras
Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
,
India, and is the son of
Ramanathan Krishnan who reached the Wimbledon semifinal twice in the 1960s. Ramesh emulated an achievement of his father's by winning the Wimbledon junior title in
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
. He also won the French Open junior title that year, achieving what would be called Junior Channel Slam, and was ranked the No. 1 junior player in the world.
Career
At the senior level, Ramesh reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon once (
1986) and the
US Open twice (
1981 and
1987
Events January
* January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency.
* January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade.
* January 3 – Afghan leader ...
). He was admired for his touch, anticipation and all-round game, but his lack of a killer stroke or a strong service kept him from reaching the very top of the men's game.
Ramesh was a key member of the Indian team which reached the Davis Cup final in 1987. In the semifinals against
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, played on grass he beat
John Fitzgerald in four sets the opening singles match, and then defeated
Wally Masur in straight sets the decisive fifth rubber to give India a 3–2 victory. However, in the final against Sweden, which was played on clay, an unfavorable surface for the Indian team, India was defeated 5–0 with Krishnan losing two singles matches to
Mats Wilander and
Anders Järryd and with the Indian team managing to win only one set. Ramesh was a stalwart on India's Davis Cup team from 1977 to 1993, compiling a 29–21 winning record (23–19 in singles and 6–2 in doubles).
At the
1992 Olympic Games in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, Ramesh reached the
men's doubles quarterfinals partnering
Leander Paes
Leander Adrian Paes ( ; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian former professional tennis player and the first Asian man to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players of all-tim ...
.
Ramesh retired from the professional tour in 1993. Over the course of his career, he won eight top-level singles titles and one doubles title; he also won four challenger singles titles (defeating the teenage
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 101 ...
in the Schenectady final in 1986). His career-high singles
ranking
A ranking is a relationship between a set of items, often recorded in a list, such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than", or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak ...
was world No. 23, in January 1985.
In 1998, Ramesh was awarded the
Padma Shri by the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...
in recognition of his achievements and contributions to Indian tennis.
Ramesh runs a tennis academy in Chennai, set up along the lines of similar institutions in the United States. He became
India Davis Cup team captain in January 2007.
ATP career finals
Singles: 12 (8 titles, 4 runner-ups)
Doubles: 1 (1 title)
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Singles: 4 (4–0)
Doubles: 1 (0–1)
Junior Grand Slam finals
Singles: 2 (2 titles)
Performance timeline
Singles
Career highlights
*1979 –
Wimbledon and French Open junior singles champion.
*1981 – Reached the quarterfinals of the
US Open.
*1981 – Won his first ATP singles title in
Manila
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
.
*1986 – Reached the quarterfinals of
Wimbledon.
*1986 – Won the
Japan Open.
*1987 – Reached the quarterfinals of
1987 South Australian Open and
1987 Heineken Open in back to back weeks in January.
*1987 – Reached the quarterfinals of the US Open.
*1987 – Member of the Indian team which reached the final of the
Davis Cup. (Krishnan won the decisive singles rubber against Australia in the semifinals. India went on to lose to Sweden in the final.)
*1988 – Won the Wellington Open; runner-up in the
ATP Auckland Open,
Bristol Open and Rye Brook (New York) Open.
*1989 – Defeated the then world No. 1,
Mats Wilander, in the second round of the Australian Open.
*1989 – Won the Auckland Open, reached the quarterfinals of the
Schenectady Open and Washington DC Open in back to back weeks in July. He reached the quarterfinals of the
1989 Livingston Open.
*1990 – Won the Schenectady Open and reached the semifinals of the
1990 Heineken Open.
*1991 – Reached the quarterfinals of the Wellington Open.
*1992 – Reached the semifinals of the Singapore Open.
*1992 – Reached the quarterfinals of the men's doubles competition at the
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...
in Barcelona with
Leander Paes
Leander Adrian Paes ( ; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian former professional tennis player and the first Asian man to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players of all-tim ...
.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Krishnan, Ramesh
French Open junior champions
Indian male tennis players
Olympic tennis players for India
Racket sportspeople from Chennai
Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports
Recipients of the Arjuna Award
Tamil sportspeople
Tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Wimbledon junior champions
1961 births
Living people
Indian tennis coaches
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' singles