From Vijay Amritraj to the latest sensation Sania Mirza, a variety of such players adorn the collection of Indian tennis. Even Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are the highlights of our proud collection. It was due to the achievements of Vijay Amritraj in 1973 when he reached the quarterfinal stage at two Grand Slam events that India received a worldwide recognition in this game. Even Leander Paes, in 1996 won a bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics becoming the first Indian in more than 4 decades to win an individual medal in the Olympics.

Mahesh Bhupathi is among the best doubles tennis players in the world with 10 grand slam titles to his credit including mixed doubles. Sania Mirza became the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament at the 2005 US Open. Such achievements, small they may seem to the world, are indeed precious to Indian tennis. A game yet to gain that amount of popularity that it very much deserves, such glories will surely attract public attention towards the game.

Youngsters going around with tennis racquets early in the morning is now becoming a regular sight, more frequently after the commendable performance by our stars in the international arena. Posters of cricket stars have adorned the rooms of youngsters and teenagers since decades; now they are being accompanied, if not replaced, by the posters of tennis stars. This shows the slow, but steady inclination developing towards the game. Until recently a major part of the audience were not too keen on watching tennis matches. It is now showing signs of becoming a family game, due to the current progress of young achievers in this game.

1. Vijay Amritraj: Vijay Amritraj is considered among the greatest tennis players to have represented India. In fact, Vijay and his brother Anand were among the first Indians to play in top-flight international tour tennis. Years before Leander and Bhupathi arrived on the scene, the Amritraj brothers made India proud by reaching the doubles semi-finals of Wimbledon in 1976. Vijay Amritraj showed some promise during his early years. In 1973, he made it to the quarter finals of two Grand Slams however failed to go further. At Wimbledon he lost in 5 sets to eventual champion Jan Kodes while Ken Rosewall got the better of him at that year`s U.S. Open. This after Amritraj had defeated the legendary Rod Laver earlier in the tournament.

In 1974, he defeated Bjorn Borg at Forest Hills but lost to Rosewell in the quarters again. This was followed by an extended lull period and it was another 7 seven years before he made it to the quarter finals of a Grand Slam in 1981. This time he went down to Jimmy Connors in yet another five-setter. Amritraj`s incapability to win the five-setters proved to be the major deterrent in his career. His lack of stamina became evident as a match progressed in to the 4th and 5th sets. A natural grass-court player, his game was more in the chip-and- charge, and serve-and-volley mould. He might have ended up on the losing side a number of times but competitive spirit always won him admirers. Amritraj did create some big upsets during his times none more memorable than the win over John McEnroe at Cincinnati in 1984 when the latter was at the zenith of his career. Amritraj also beat Jimmy Connors 5 times in 11 matches. The highest ranking he achieved in men`s singles was No. 16 in July.

Amritraj captained the Indian Davis Cup team for most of the late 1970`s and 1980`s. Under him, India even made it to the finals in 1974 and 1987. When he gave up playing pro tennis, his win-lose record in singles stood at 384-296. Amritraj won 16 singles titles and 13 doubles. After tennis, he shifted focus to the glitz world for a while. He acted with Roger Moore in the James Bond film, Octopussy and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Presently, he is a renowned sports commentator and successful businessman.

2. Ramanathan Krishnan: Ramanathan Krishnan (born April 11, 1937, Chennai) is another yesteryear great of Indian tennis who represented the country in the 1950`s and 60`s. His major achievements as a player are as follows:
Winning the Junior Wimbledon Championship in 1954
Reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 1960 & 61 (only Indian to do so)
Was seeded 4th in the 1961 Wimbledon Championship
Was part of the Davis Cup squad that reached the finals and lost to Australia in 1966

3. Ramesh Krishnan: Ramesh Krishnan (born June 5, 1961, Chennai) is the son of the legendary Ramanathan Krishnan. Like his father, he too achieved reasonable success and was at his best in the 1980s. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1998. His major achievements include:
Won the Wimbledon and French Open junior singles championship in 1979.
Reached quarter-finals of US Open in 1981, 1987.
Reached quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 1986.
Was part of the Davis Cup squad that made it to the finals in 1987 eventually losing to Sweden.
Partnered Leander Paes to reach the quarter-finals of men`s doubles at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Won 8 professional singles title and one doubles.
Had an all-time high ranking of 23 in January 1985.

Jaidip Mukherjee: Jaidip Mukherjee was the grandson of the legendary Desabandhu Chittaranjan Das. His father Adhip Mukherjee was an avid sportsperson and a Cambridge Blue in hockey. A student of La Martiniere College, Jaidip took active part in many sporting events like soccer, hockey, boxing, cricket and rugby. However an accident changed all that and a lot more.In 1952, Jaidip broke his collarbone while playing rugby at school following which the doctor directed him to keep away from such contact sports. Jaidip then joined the Rajkumari Amrit Kaur Tennis Coaching Scheme of the Union Government in 1954. During his tenure over here, Jaidip showed plenty of promise. And his tennis career took off from there.

Jaidip went on to clinch the Junior National Championship in 1959. A year later, he ended as the runners-up in the Junior Wimbledon singles Championships. Jaidip was at the peak of his career in the 1960s and 70s. During this period he recorded wins in Helsinki, Stockholm and England. His opponents included greats like Roy Emerson, Fred Stolle, John Newcombe and Arther Ashe.

Jaidip made his Davis Cup debut against Indonesia at Bangkok in 1960 and the match after a hard-fought five-setter. He went on to play Davis Cup for another 13 years, which included 97 rubbers in 43 ties. Premjit Lall, Ramanathan Krishnan and Jaidip Mukherjee formed such a deadly combo that they were renamed the `three musketeers`. The trio took India to three inter-zone finals from 1960-63 and 1968. The three were also responsible for helping India reach their first Davis Cup Challenge round finals against the Australians which they went on to lose.

Jaidip`s biggest moment of fame arrived in 1966 against Germany in a Davis Cup tie at Kolkata. Jaidip almost single handedly clinched the tie for India beating Ingo Budding in the first singles and later German No. 1, William Bungert in the reverse singles. Interestingly, William Bungert went on to become the Wimbledon runner-up that year.

For his services to Indian tennis, Jaidip was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 1966. After retiring from International Tennis in 1972, (he played his last doubles match against Australia with his partner Premjit Lall) Jaidip turned his attention towards administration and coaching. Jaidip is the Vice President of the All India Tennis Association and the founder member of the Hero Sports Foundation. Jaidip best moment as coach was undoubtedly seeing Leander Paes capture bronze at the Atlanta Olympics. He served as the non-playing captain of the Indian Davis team from 1994-1999.

Under him, India managed to beat Holland, which comprised of Wimbledon winner Richard Kraijeck. Jaidip`s farewell as non-playing captain was against South Korea. Apart from India, Jaidip has also coached the Malaysian Davis Cup Team. Jaidip once co-conducted a tennis camp in New Delhi with Tony Roche, one of the greatest coaches who were coaching Ivan Lendl at that time. For his immense contribution to world tennis, Jaidip became the first Indian to be awarded the International Tennis Federation, lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. Presently, he manages the Jaidip Mukerjee Tennis Academy at Kolkata.