The Open Era
India · born Madras, 1953 · right-handed · three times Newport champion and twice a Wimbledon quarter-finalist
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3
Newport singles titles, 1976, 1980 and 1984
2
Wimbledon singles quarter-finals, 1973 and 1981
15
ATP singles titles, with 13 in doubles
18
Career-high ranking, 1980
45-28
Davis Cup record for India, 1970 to 1988
Vijay Amritraj was born in Madras in 1953 and spent much of his childhood ill and in bed, with his mother keeping up his schooling at his bedside. He and his brothers, Anand, the elder, and Ashok, the younger, all became professional players. In 1973, at 19, he reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals, won a tournament in New Hampshire by beating Rod Laver and Jimmy Connors, and reached the US Open quarter-finals; Bud Collins grouped him with Björn Borg and Connors as the ABC of the coming generation.
He reached a career high of No. 18 in 1980 and won 15 singles and 13 doubles titles, eight of the doubles with Anand. He led India to the Davis Cup final in 1974, when India's government refused to let the team play apartheid South Africa, and again in 1987, when India lost to Sweden. He was president of the ATP from 1989 to 1993.
Off the court he appeared in the James Bond film Octopussy (1983) and in Star Trek IV (1986), became a leading broadcaster in Asia from 1992, was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2001 and founded the Vijay Amritraj Foundation in 2006. In 2024 he and Leander Paes became the first Indian men inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, he in the Contributor category.
| Newport finals | 1976: beat Brian Teacher 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. 1980: beat Andrew Pattison 6-1, 5-7, 6-3. 1984: beat Tim Mayotte 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 |
|---|---|
| Bristol 1986 | Beat Henri Leconte 7-6, 1-6, 8-6 in the final |
| Queen's 1977 doubles | With Anand, beat John and David Lloyd 6-1, 6-2 in the final |
| Wimbledon quarter-finals | 1973: lost to the eventual champion Jan Kodeš 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, having been two points from victory in the fifth set. 1981: lost to Jimmy Connors 2-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, after leading by two sets |
| Wimbledon 1979 | Second round: lost to the champion Björn Borg 2-6, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2, after leading two sets to one and 4-1 in the fourth |
| Wimbledon invitation doubles | 35-and-over champions with Anand in 1989, beating Bob Lutz and Dick Stockton 6-3, 6-2; 45-and-over runners-up in 2000 |
| Newport, Rhode Island | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Men's singles‡ Hall of Fame Open | |
| 1980 | Men's singles Hall of Fame Open | |
| 1983 | Men's doubles Hall of Fame Open | with John Fitzgerald |
| 1984 | Men's singles Hall of Fame Open | |
| 1986 | Men's doubles Hall of Fame Open | with Tim Wilkison |
| Queen's Club | ||
| 1977 | Men's doubles | with Anand Amritraj |
| Bristol (West of England) | ||
| 1986 | Men's singles Bristol Open | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"These two ordinary people did extraordinary things with my life."
The person behind the player.
Madras, 1960s
As a boy he had trouble breathing and was often in bed or in hospital. "I think it really probably started in my head when I was 6, 7, 8 years old of being unhealthy as a child growing up," he said of his drive.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameNew Hampshire, July 1973
He saved match points against Laver and, in the final, against Connors to win the tournament, along with a $5,000 cheque and a Volvo. Indira Gandhi's government allowed the car into India duty-free, and his father drove it for about eleven years.
Source: Madras MusingsWimbledon, 1979
In the second round he led the champion two sets to one and 4-1 in the fourth. Borg took the fourth set on a tiebreak and the fifth 6-2, and went on to his fourth title in a row.
Source: AELTC draw; Onmanorama1974 and 1987
India reached the 1974 Davis Cup final but would not play South Africa under apartheid. "It was the right human decision to make," he said. In 1987 he persuaded Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to let India play Israel, and India went on to the final.
Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame1983
He played an MI6 ally of Roger Moore's James Bond in Octopussy, and three years later a starship captain in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Source: Tennis.comLater years
Connors beat him from two sets down in the 1981 Wimbledon quarter-finals. Amritraj later wrote that the two had played numerous matches and that "today we enjoy talking about those moments when we play golf!"
Source: The Bridge ChronicleFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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