Tennis enjoys a considerable following in India, although it is limited to urban areas but still it is counted among the most popular sports in India. India has produced a number of tennis players, who have achieved international recognition and have made their presence in some of the top

tennis tournament List of current and past men's and women's tennis tournaments. Criteria for inclusion: *The tournament is notable enough to have its own article on Wikipedia *Historic tournaments are included if notability can be established by reliable third par ...

s and

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

All India Tennis Association The All India Tennis Association (AITA) ( hi, अखिल भारतीय टेनिस संघ), is the governing body of tennis in India. It was established in 1920 and affiliated by International Tennis Federation and Asian Tennis Fed ...

(AITA) established in 1920, is the governing body of tennis in India and is a member of the

Asian Tennis Federation The Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) is a non-profit organization affiliated with the International Tennis Federation. It is a continental body of national tennis associations of Asian countries. The ATF's main objectives are to raise the quality sta ...

India Davis Cup team The India men's national tennis team represents India in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the All India Tennis Association. History India competed in its first Davis Cup in 1921 but has yet to win the Cup. India finished as runn ...

is the most successful team of Asia in

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

, who has finished as runners-up 3 times. Sania Mirza - Roland Garros 2011

History

Tennis has been a popular sport in India since around the 1880s when the British Army and Civilian Officers brought the game to India. Soon after regular tournaments like the 'Punjab Lawn tennis Championship' at

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

(Now in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

) (1885); 'Bengal Lawn Tennis Championship' at

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

(now

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

) (1887) and the 'All India Tennis Championships' at

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

(1910) were organised. In the history of major tournaments, India has already beaten among others

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

in Davis Cup ties (1921 to 1929). The history of tennis in India goes back a long way. In the 1880s, the British introduced the game of tennis in India during the colonial rule and soon it started gaining momentum. BK Nehru in 1905 and Sardar Nihal Singh in 1908 were later joined by M Saleem, Fayzee brothers and Jagat Mohan Lal who made it to last 16 stages at the Wimbledon. Ghaus Mohammad was the first Indian to reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 1939 where he lost to American champion Bobby Riggs. According to the All India Tennis Association, in Davis Cup ties between 1921 and 1929, India beat, among others, France, Romania, Holland, Belgium, Spain and Greece. Top Indian players like Saleem, Fayzee brothers, Cotah Ramaswamy and Krishna Prasad beat a large number of ranked European players and teams to bring glory to the nation. In the 1960s, the sport witnessed a golden era.

Ramanathan Krishnan Ramanathan Krishnan (born 11 April 1937) 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. 3 in Potte ...

earned his highest seeding – No. 4 in Wimbledon in 1962. In the Davis Cup, India repeatedly became the Zonal Champions. Ramanathan Krishnan, along with

Premjit Lall Premjit Lall (20 October 1940 – 31 December 2008) was an Indian professional tennis player from Kolkata, who was active during the 1960s and 70s. Tennis career Lall started his tennis career on the grass courts of the Calcutta South Club wher ...

, SP Misra,

Jaidip Mukerjea Jaidip Mukerjea (born 21 April 1942) is a retired professional tennis player from India. Personal life Mukerjea is the grandson of Indian independence leader Chittaranjan Das. He completed his schooling from La Martiniere Calcutta. Tennis car ...

and RK Khanna as the non-playing captain, steered India to the Cup finals in 1966. They lost the Cup but not before Krishnan and Mukerjea beat Newcombe and Tony Roche, the Wimbledon champions, (1965) in doubles. In the 1970s,

Vijay Amritraj Vijay Amritraj (born 14 December 1953) is an Indian sports commentator, actor and retired professional tennis player from Madras. He was awarded the Padma Shri, India's 4th highest civilian honour, in 1983.In 2022, he was honored for his cont ...

burst onto the scene. With teammates

Sashi Menon Sashi Menon (born 9 August 1952) is a former professional tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a t ...

, Jasjit Singh and brother

Anand Amritraj Anand Amritraj (Tamil: ஆனந்த் அம்ரித்ராஜ்; born 20 March 1951) is a former Indian tennis player and businessman. He along with brother Vijay Amritraj led India into the 1974 Davis Cup finals against South Afri ...

, Vijay took India to World Cup Finals for the second time in 1974. Vijay also made it to the quarterfinals of US Open in 1973 and 1981; and Wimbledon in 1973 and 1974.

Ramesh Krishnan Ramesh Krishnan (born 5 June 1961) is a tennis coach and former professional tennis player from India. As a junior player in the late 1970s, he won the singles titles at both, Wimbledon and the French Open. He went on to reach three Grand Sla ...

, the son of Ramanathan Krishnan, won the junior Wimbledon championship and junior French Open title in 1979 and was ranked number 1 junior in the world. He made it to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon (1986) and US Open (twice). The 1990s saw the rise of

Leander Paes Leander Adrian Paes ( ; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian former professional tennis player. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players ever. He holds the record for the most doubles wins in the Davis Cup. Paes won eight men' ...

who won the bronze medal at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. In 1997,

Mahesh Bhupati Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi (born 7 June 1974) is an Indian former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. In 1997, he became the first Indian to win a major tournament (with Rika Hiraki). With his win at the 2006 Australian Open mixed doubles, he ...

became India's first ever grand slam winner when he won the mixed doubles at French Open. Paes partnered with Bhupati to reach the finals of all four grand slams in 1999, winning two. In the 2000s and 2010s, playing separately or together, Paes and Bhupati won several grand slam doubles and mixed doubles tournaments. The 2000s saw India's first WTA tournament winner

Sania Mirza Sania Mirza (; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she has won six major titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles in ...

. Mirza also won a number of grand slam titles in doubles in the late 2000s and 2010s. India's last grand slam win came in 2017 when

Rohan Bopanna Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His tennis singles, singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member ...

won the mixed doubles title at French Open. At the end of 2010s,

Prajnesh Gunneswaran Prajnesh Gunneswaran (born 12 November 1989) is an Indian tennis player. He has won 2 ATP Challenger and 8 ITF titles in singles and 1 ITF title in doubles. He is currently the highest-ranked Indian singles player. He represents India at the Dav ...

was the only Indian men's singles player in the top 100. In 2021

Ankita Raina Ankita Ravinderkrishan Raina (born 11 January 1993) is an Indian professional tennis player. Since 2013, she has regularly been the Indian number one in both singles and doubles. Raina has won one title on the WTA Tour and one at WTA 125 tourn ...

became the 2nd woman from India to win a WTA title and enter into top 100 doubles rankings.

Grand Slam Finals

In 1997, India won their first Grand Slam title at the French open, in the Mixed Doubles. Since then Indians have won Grand Slam titles in the Mixed Doubles, Men's Doubles, Women's Doubles besides Girls' Doubles events. No Indian has so far won a Grand Slam Singles title in the Men's or Women's category. Mixed doubles Men's doubles Women's doubles

Total medals won by Indian Tennis players in Major tournaments

Notable Performance at Summer Olympics

References

{{Sport in India

History

Grand Slam Finals

Total medals won by Indian Tennis players in Major tournaments

Notable Performance at Summer Olympics

See also

References