considered as one of the all time Great Tennis players in India, Ramanathan Krishnan was bon on 11th April, 1937. He successfully represented India in various prestigious international Tennis events during the 1950s and 1960s. His father, T. K. Ramanathan was also a renowned Tennis player and he gave Ramanathan early training in Tennis. As he had a great potential, Ramanathan started loving and playing the game of Tennis from a very early age. After completing his training, Ramanathan Krishnan soon became a well known figure in the national circuit. He won both the senior and junior championships for a record eight times at a stretch.

After winning so many national titles, Ramanathan Krishnan started concentrating on international tennis tournaments and within a very short span of time he established himself as one of the best ones, in the world. He joined the Indian Davis Cup team at a tender age of only 16 years and gave a remarkable performance against Belgium in the Davis Cup Tournament in 1953. He beat Ashley Coopers to win the junior Wimbledon championships in 1954 and became the first Asian to win the title. He also became the first Indian to reach the final of Wimbledon for two times; however, he could not win the title. He was seeded 4th in the 1961 Wimbledon Championship, as well.

Ramanathan Krishnan is the only Indian Tennis player to have ranked among the top 5 in the world, for five different occasions. He was ranked third in the world in 1960 and in 1962; he slipped into the 4th position. Apart from having extraordinary records as a Singles player in the international Tennis tournaments, Ramanathan Krishnan also had outstanding records for India in Davis Cup. He won 50 singles out of 69 and 19 of 29 doubles in partnership with Jaideep Mukherjee, in the Davis Cup. For his outstanding contribution to Indian Tennis, the Government of India honoured him with the Arjuna Award in 1969. He also received the Padma Shree award in 1962 and Padma Bhusan in 1967.