Arjuna Awardees in Lawn Tennis

Arjuna Award, officially known as the Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour in India, preceded only by the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. Named after Arjuna, a central character in the ancient Indian Sanskrit epic Mahabharata, the award reflects the ideals of hard work, dedication, and concentration that he symbolizes in Hindu tradition. Presented annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the award recognizes outstanding achievements and excellence in sports and games.

Arjuna Award was instituted in 1961 to recognize and honour outstanding sportspersons in India. Since its inception, the award has undergone several expansions, reviews, and rationalizations to reflect the evolving landscape of Indian sports. In 1977, its scope was extended to include all recognized sporting disciplines. In 1995, the award was further expanded to cover indigenous games and para sports, while also introducing a category recognizing lifetime contribution to sports. This lifetime achievement category was later separated with the establishment of the Dhyan Chand Award in 2002. Under the latest revision of the award guidelines in 2018, the Arjuna Award is conferred only for disciplines featured in major international sporting events such as the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championships, and World Cups, as well as for cricket, indigenous games, and para sports.

Nominations for the Arjuna Award are invited from government-recognised National Sports Federations, the Indian Olympic Association, the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Sports Promotion and Control Boards, the governments of states and Union Territories, as well as previous recipients of the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, Arjuna, and Dronacharya Awards. 

The recipients are selected by a committee constituted by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The award is conferred in recognition of outstanding performance in sports at the international level over a period of four years. In addition to sporting excellence, the selection process also considers qualities such as leadership, sportsmanship, and discipline demonstrated by the nominees.

Lawn tennis was introduced to India during the 1880s by British army and civilian officers. Over the years, the sport has developed under the governance of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) and has produced several internationally acclaimed players, including Mahesh Bhupathi, one of India's most celebrated tennis champions. In recognition of excellence in the sport, 14 lawn tennis players were honoured with the Arjuna Award between 1961 and 2004. Ramanathan Krishna is the first lawn tennis player to receive this prestigious award.

List of Arjuna Awardees in Lawn Tennis

Ramanathan Krishnan (1961)

Naresh Kumar (1962)

Jaidip Mukerjea (1966)

Premjit Lall (1967)

Vijay Amritraj (1974)

Nirupama Mankad (1978 to 1979)

Ramesh Krishnan (1980 to 1981)

Anand Amritraj (1985)

Leander Paes (1990)

Mahesh Bhupathi (1995)

Gaurav Natekar (1996)

Asif Ismail (1997)

Akhtar Ali (2000)

Sania Mirza (2004)

Somdev Devvarman (2011)

Saketh Myneni (2017)

Rohan Bopanna (2018)

Divij Sharan (2020)

Ankita Raina (2021)