1. Ramanathan Krishnan was born on 11 April 1937 and is a retired tennis player from India who was among the world's leading players in the 1950s and 1960s.
33 Facts About Ramanathan Krishnan
1. 2.
Ramanathan Krishnan was twice a semifinalist at Wimbledon in 1960 and 1961, reaching as high as World No 3 in Potter's amateur rankings.
3.
Ramanathan Krishnan led India to the Challenge Round of the 1966 Davis Cup against Australia and was the non playing captain when Vijay Amritraj and Anand Amritraj led India into the 1974 Davis Cup finals against South Africa.
4.
Ramanathan Krishnan was active from 1953 to 1975 and won 69 singles titles.
5.
Ramanathan Krishnan soon made his mark on the national circuit, sweeping all the junior titles.
6.
In 1957, Ramanathan Krishnan reached the singles final at the Northern Lawn Tennis Championships at Manchester, defeating Roy Emerson and Robert Bedard, but losing the final to Lew Hoad in straight sets.
7.
Ramanathan Krishnan reached the final at the Canadian Open in 1957, losing a close final to Bedard, whom Ramanathan Krishnan had beaten several times in Britain that season.
8.
In 1959, Ramanathan Krishnan won the Queen's Club Championships title, defeating both Alex Olmedo and Neale Fraser in the final two rounds.
9.
Ramanathan Krishnan played in the men's singles competition at the 1959 Wimbledon losing in the third round to Olmedo.
10.
Ramanathan Krishnan rejected a record three-year $150,000 guarantee offer from Jack Kramer in 1959 after winning at Queen's Club.
11.
Later that same year, playing for India in the Davis Cup, Ramanathan Krishnan defeated Laver in four sets.
12.
Ramanathan Krishnan defeated Laver at the 1959 Pacific Southwest tournament in three straight sets.
13.
Ramanathan Krishnan won the 1959 US Hard Court Championships in Denver with wins over Gardnar Mulloy in the semifinal and Whitney Reed in three straight sets in the final.
14.
Ramanathan Krishnan ranked World No 3 in Potter's annual rankings for 1959 in World Tennis.
15.
Ramanathan Krishnan defeated Andres Gimeno in five sets on his way to the semifinal.
16.
Ramanathan Krishnan won the 1961 Wiesbaden tennis tournament, including a win over Wilhelm Bungert.
17.
In 1961, Ramanathan Krishnan again reached the Wimbledon semi-finals by beating Emerson in straight sets in the quarter-finals but lost in the semis to eventual champion Laver.
18.
Ramanathan Krishnan received his highest seeding at Wimbledon at No 4 in 1962 but had to withdraw after three matches due to an ongoing ankle injury.
19.
Ramanathan Krishnan won the 1963 Antwerp International Championships tournament on red clay with a four-set win in the final over Nicola Pietrangeli.
20.
Ramanathan Krishnan won the 1965 River Oaks International Tennis Tournament at Houston, Texas with wins over Osuna, Emerson in the semi-final in four sets, and Richey in the final in four sets.
21.
In 1967 Ramanathan Krishnan won the Antwerp International Championships on red clay a second time by beating Emerson in the final in three straight sets.
22.
Ramanathan Krishnan won the National Lawn Tennis Championships of India a record eight times, and reached ten finals.
23.
Ramanathan Krishnan was under contract to his national tennis association, and not to an independent professional tour, and was therefore eligible to represent India in Davis Cup competition, but received money earnings in designated tournaments approved by his national association.
24.
Ramanathan Krishnan won the Canadian Open in 1968 over Torben Ulrich in the final.
25.
Ramanathan Krishnan lost to John Newcombe at the inaugural US Open that year.
26.
Ramanathan Krishnan's last tournament was a first round loss at Calcutta in 1975 to Tom Gorman.
27.
In 1961, Ramanathan Krishnan had singles wins over both Chuck McKinley and Whitney Reed, although India lost the tie 3 to 2.
28.
Ramanathan Krishnan led the India team to the Challenge Round of the Davis Cup in 1966, whilst reaching the Inter-Zonal final with the team on five other occasions, in 1956,1959,1962,1963 and 1968.
29.
India surprised West Germany in the inter-zonal semi-finals with Ramanathan Krishnan beating Wilhelm Bungert.
30.
Ramanathan Krishnan received the Arjuna award in 1961, the Padma Shri in 1962 and the Padma Bhushan in 1967.
31.
Ramanathan Krishnan has written, with his son Ramesh Ramanathan Krishnan and Nirmal Shekar, a book titled A touch of tennis: The story of a tennis family.
32.
Ramesh Ramanathan 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.
33.
On 25 July 2012, Ramanathan Krishnan re-launched India's premier English-language weekly sports magazine, Sportstar, at a function in Chennai.