Ramanathan Krishnan

Ramanathan Krishnan (born 11 April 1937)[1][5][2] is a retired tennis player from India who was among the world's leading players in the 1950s and 1960s. He was twice a semifinalist at Wimbledon in 1960 and 1961, reaching as high as World No. 6 in Lance Tingay's amateur rankings.[4]

Ramanathan Krishnan
The former Tennis players, Shri Ramanathan Krishnan and Shri Ramesh Krishnan called on the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Dr. M.S. Gill, in New Delhi on 26 November 2009
Country (sports) India
ResidenceMadras, India
Born (1937-04-11) 11 April 1937
Nagercoil, India[1][2]
Turned pro1953 (amateur tour)
Retired1968
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Career titles55[3]
Highest rankingNo. 6 (1961, Lance Tingay)[4]
Grand Slam Singles results
French OpenQF (1962)
WimbledonSF (1960, 1961)
US Open3R (1957, 1959)
Doubles
Grand Slam Doubles results
WimbledonQF (1955, 1959, 1965, 1967)
Team competitions
Davis CupF (1956, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1966Ch, 1968)

Career

Krishnan honed his skills under his father, T.K. Ramanathan a veteran Nagercoil[2] based player. He soon made his mark on the national circuit, sweeping all the junior titles.

Wimbledon

In 1954, he became the first Asian player to win the boys' singles title at Wimbledon,[6] beating Ashley Cooper in the final. In 1959, Krishnan played in the men's singles competition at Wimbledon losing in the third round to Alex Olmedo. Later that year, playing for India in the Davis Cup, Krishnan defeated Australia's Rod Laver (the Wimbledon runner-up) in four sets.[7] These performances gained Krishnan seventh seeded status at Wimbledon in 1960, he reached the semi-finals losing to the eventual champion, Neale Fraser.[8] In 1961, Krishnan reached the Wimbledon semi-finals by beating Roy Emerson in straight sets but lost in the semis to eventual champion, Rod Laver. Krishnan received his highest seeding at Wimbledon (No. 4) in 1962 but had to withdraw mid-tournament due to an ankle injury.[9]

Davis Cup

Krishnan was a key member of the Indian team which reached the Challenge Round of the Davis Cup in 1966, whilst also reaching the Inter-Zonal final with the team on five other occasions, in 1956, 1959, 1962, 1963 and 1968. India surprised West Germany in the inter-zonal semi-finals with Krishnan beating Wilhelm Bungert (a Wimbledon finalist later that year). At Calcutta, in the semi-finals against Brazil, the two sides won two matches each and it all came down to Krishnan's match against the Brazilian champion, Thomaz Koch. Koch was leading two sets to one and was up 5–2 in the fourth set when Krishnan staged one of the most memorable comebacks by winning the set 7–5 and then the match. In the final against Australia, Krishnan and Jaidip Mukerjea won the doubles rubber (against John Newcombe and Tony Roche), but Krishnan lost both singles matches (against Fred Stolle and Roy Emerson) as India were defeated 4–1.[10] Krishnan was a regular player on the Indian Davis Cup team between 1953 and 1975, compiling a 69–28 winning record (50–19 in singles and 19–9 in doubles).[11]

He won the All India Championships a record six times and reached eight finals.

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 2 (1 win – 1 loss)
Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1953 Wimbledon Grass Billy Knight 5–7, 4–6
Win 1954 Wimbledon Grass Ashley Cooper 6–2, 7–5

Style of play

Krishnan's playing style was known as "touch tennis". Critics hailed Krishnan as a marvel, Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph described his tennis as "pure oriental charm" while another described his style as "Eastern magic".[12] More recently, Robert Philip wrote that "each and every Krishnan rally was a thing of rare beauty".[13] According to veteran sports journalist C.V. Narsimhan, "His service was never a powerful weapon, he did not have any powerful groundstrokes either. He won with consistency, angled volleys, and a graceful half volley drop shot now and then".[6] Rafael Osuna, Nicola Pietrangeli and Krishnan's son Ramesh were some of the other notable exponents of this style emphasizing finesse.[14]

Awards

Krishnan received the Arjuna award in 1961, the Padma Shri in 1962 and the Padma Bhushan in 1967.[12]

Book

Krishnan has written, with his son Ramesh Krishnan and Nirmal Shekar, a book titled A touch of tennis: The story of a tennis family.[15] The book covering the achievements of three generations of tennis-playing Krishnans, was released by Penguin Books India.[16]

Current

Krishnan now lives in Chennai,[17] where he manages a gas distribution agency. Ramesh Krishnan emulated his father's achievement of winning the Wimbledon junior title, and went on to become a leading Indian tennis player in the 1980s. On 25 July 2012, Ramanathan Krishnan re-launched India's premier English-language weekly sports magazine, Sportstar, at a function in Chennai.[18] Krishnan runs a tennis training center in Chennai together with his son.[19]

Career highlights
  • 1954 – Wimbledon – junior champion
  • 1960 – Wimbledon – seeded seventh, reached the semi-finals (losing to eventual champion Neale Fraser)
  • 1961 – Wimbledon – seeded seventh, reached the semi-finals for the second consecutive time (losing to eventual champion Rod Laver)
  • 1966 – member of the Indian team which reached the final of the Davis Cup (lost to Australia in the final)

References
  1. "Complex to Get Ramanathan Krishnan's Name"
  2. "Tennis centre named after Ramanathan Krishnan" Archived 7 May 2015 at Archive.today
  3. "Ramanathan Krishnan: Stats". tennisrachives.com. Tennis Archives. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  4. United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (First Edition), p. 427.
  5. "Tennis centre named after Ramanathan Krishnan"
  6. "Harmony magazine Feb 2005". Harmonyindia.org. 15 August 1947. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012.
  7. "Sports Illustrated Aug 24,1959". Sports Illustrated. 24 August 1959.
  8. Chennaionline Archived 20 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Majumdar and Mangan Editors (2005) Sport in South Asian Society: past and present ISBN 0-415-35953-8
  10. "The never-say-die Krish: Sportsstar weekly Sep 9,2006". Tssonnet.com. 9 September 2006.
  11. "Davis Cup Record". Daviscup.com.
  12. "Tennis as sweetness: Sportstar Jan 28,2006". Tssonnet.com. 28 January 2006.
  13. French Open. "The Daily Telegraph Jan 1, 2007". The Daily Telegraph.
  14. Paul Bailey (8 January 2006). "Paul Bailey in Observer Sports Monthly January 8, 2006". The Guardian.
  15. "The Indian Express". The Indian Express. 8 April 1999.
  16. "Google books".
  17. "Pride of Chennai - A list of people that make Chennai proud". Itz Chennai. January 2012. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  18. "Ramanathan Krishnan launches new-look Sportstar". 27 July 2012.
  19. "Krishnan Tennis Centre". Retrieved 23 June 2016.
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