Ramesh Krishnan
Encyclopedia
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 boy's singles titles at both Wimbledon
and the French Open. He went on to reach three Grand Slam
quarter-finals in the 1980s, and was part of the Indian team which reached the final of the Davis Cup
in 1987. He became India's Davis Cup captain in 2007.
, India, and is the son of Ramanathan Krishnan
, who was one of India's leading tennis players in the 1960s. Ramesh emulated an achievement of his father's by winning the Wimbledon junior title in 1979. He also won the French Open junior title that year, and was ranked the No. 1 junior player in the world.
Ramesh was a key member of the Indian team which reached the Davis Cup final in 1987. In the semi-finals against Australia, he beat John Fitzgerald in four sets the opening singles match, and then defeated Wally Masur
in straight sets the decisive fifth rubber to give India a 3-2 victory. However in the final against Sweden, India was defeated 5-0 with Krishnan losing two singles matches to Mats Wilander
and Anders Järryd
. Ramesh was a stalwart on India's Davis Cup team from 1977 to 1993, compiling a 29-21 winning record (23-19 in singles and 6-2 in doubles).
In the 1992 Olympic Games
in Barcelona
, Ramesh reached the men's doubles quarter-finals partnering Leander Paes
.
Ramesh retired from the professional tour in 1993. Over the course of his career, he won eight top-level singles titles and one doubles title. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 23 (in January 1985). His career prize-money totalled US$1,263,130.
In 1998, Ramesh was awarded the Padma Shri
by the Government of India
in recognition of his achievements and contributions to Indian tennis.
Ramesh is presently running a tennis academy in Chennai, set up along the lines of similar institutions in the United States. He became India's Davis Cup captain in January 2007.
1990 (1) Schenectady (Outdoor/Hard)
1989 (1) Auckland (Outdoor/Hard)
1988 (1) Wellington (Outdoor/Hard)
1986 (2) Hong Kong (Outdoor/Hard) , Tokyo Outdoor (Outdoor/Hard)
1984 (1) Metz (Indoor/Hard)
1982 (1) Stuttgart Outdoor (Outdoor/Clay)
1981 (1) Manila (Outdoor/Clay)
Singles Career Finalist (4):
1988 (3) Rye Brook (Outdoor/Hard) , Bristol (Outdoor/Grass) , Auckland (Outdoor/Hard)
1985 (1) Cologne (Indoor/Hard)
Doubles Career Titles (1):
1987 (1) Nancy (w/Mezzadri, Indoor/Carpet)
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
and former professional tennis player from India. As a junior player in the late-1970s, he won the boy's singles titles at both Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
and the French Open. He went on to reach three Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
quarter-finals in the 1980s, and was part of the Indian team which reached the final of the Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
in 1987. He became India's Davis Cup captain in 2007.
Early Life
Ramesh was born in MadrasChennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, India, and is the son of Ramanathan Krishnan
Ramanathan Krishnan
Ramanathan Krishnan is a retired tennis player from India who was among the world's leading players in the 1950s and 1960s.-Career:Krishnan honed his skills under his father, T.K. Ramanathan...
, who was one of India's leading tennis players in the 1960s. Ramesh emulated an achievement of his father's by winning the Wimbledon junior title in 1979. He also won the French Open junior title that year, and was ranked the No. 1 junior player in the world.
Career
At the senior level, Ramesh reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon once (1986) and the US Open twice (1981 and 1987). He was admired for his touch, anticipation and all-round game, but his lack of a killer stroke or a strong service kept him from reaching the very top of the men's game.Ramesh was a key member of the Indian team which reached the Davis Cup final in 1987. In the semi-finals against Australia, he beat John Fitzgerald in four sets the opening singles match, and then defeated Wally Masur
Wally Masur
Wally Masur is a tennis coach, television commentator, and former professional tennis player from Sydney, Australia....
in straight sets the decisive fifth rubber to give India a 3-2 victory. However in the final against Sweden, India was defeated 5-0 with Krishnan losing two singles matches to Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden. From 1982 through 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , and one Grand Slam men's doubles title...
and Anders Järryd
Anders Järryd
Anders Per Järryd is a former professional tennis player from Sweden. During his career he won eight Grand Slam doubles titles , reached the World No. 1 doubles ranking, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 5.Järryd was born in Lidköping, Västra Götaland...
. Ramesh was a stalwart on India's Davis Cup team from 1977 to 1993, compiling a 29-21 winning record (23-19 in singles and 6-2 in doubles).
In the 1992 Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Ramesh reached the men's doubles quarter-finals partnering Leander Paes
Leander Paes
Leander Adrian Paes, pronounced pās, is an Indian professional tennis player who currently features in the doubles events in the ATP tour and the Davis Cup tournament...
.
Ramesh retired from the professional tour in 1993. Over the course of his career, he won eight top-level singles titles and one doubles title. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 23 (in January 1985). His career prize-money totalled US$1,263,130.
In 1998, Ramesh was awarded the Padma Shri
Padma Shri
Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...
by the Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
in recognition of his achievements and contributions to Indian tennis.
Ramesh is presently running a tennis academy in Chennai, set up along the lines of similar institutions in the United States. He became India's Davis Cup captain in January 2007.
Career titles
Singles Career Titles (8):1990 (1) Schenectady (Outdoor/Hard)
1989 (1) Auckland (Outdoor/Hard)
1988 (1) Wellington (Outdoor/Hard)
1986 (2) Hong Kong (Outdoor/Hard) , Tokyo Outdoor (Outdoor/Hard)
1984 (1) Metz (Indoor/Hard)
1982 (1) Stuttgart Outdoor (Outdoor/Clay)
1981 (1) Manila (Outdoor/Clay)
Singles Career Finalist (4):
1988 (3) Rye Brook (Outdoor/Hard) , Bristol (Outdoor/Grass) , Auckland (Outdoor/Hard)
1985 (1) Cologne (Indoor/Hard)
Doubles Career Titles (1):
1987 (1) Nancy (w/Mezzadri, Indoor/Carpet)
Career highlights
- 1979 - WimbledonThe Championships, WimbledonThe Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
and French Open junior singles champion. - 1981 - US OpenU.S. Open (tennis)The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881...
- reached the quarter-finals. - 1986 - WimbledonThe Championships, WimbledonThe Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
- reached the quarter-finals. - 1987 - US OpenU.S. Open (tennis)The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881...
- reached the quarter-finals. - 1987 - Member of the Indian team which reached the final of the Davis CupDavis CupThe Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
. (Krishnan won the decisive singles rubber against Australia in the semi-finals. India went on to lose to Sweden in the final.) - 1989 - Defeated the then-World No. 1 Mats WilanderMats WilanderMats Wilander is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden. From 1982 through 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , and one Grand Slam men's doubles title...
in the second round of the Australian OpenAustralian OpenThe Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
. - 1992 - Olympic GamesOlympic GamesThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
in BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
- reached the men's doubles quarter-finals partnering Leander PaesLeander PaesLeander Adrian Paes, pronounced pās, is an Indian professional tennis player who currently features in the doubles events in the ATP tour and the Davis Cup tournament...
. - Won eight top-level professional singles titles and one doubles title.
- Reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 23.
- 1986 - Won Japan Open.
- 1987 - Reached the quarter-finals of 1987 South Australian Open and 1987 Heineken Open1987 Heineken OpenThe 1987 Heineken Open was an Grand Prix Tennis Circuit tennis tournament held in Auckland, New Zealand. The tournament was held from January 5 to January 12.-Men's Singles: Miloslav Mečíř defeated Michiel Schapers 6-2, 6-3, 6-4...
in back to back weeks in January. - 1988 - Won the Wellington Open, Runners Up in the ATP Auckland Open, Runners up in the Bristol Open, Runners Up in the Rye Brook, New York Open.
- 1989 - Won the ATP Auckland Open, reached the quarter-finals of the Schenectady, New YorkSchenectady, New YorkSchenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...
Open and Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Open in back to back weeks in July. He reached the quarter-finals of the 1989 Livingston Open1989 Livingston OpenThe 1989 Livingston Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts that was part of the 1989 Nabisco Grand Prix. It was played at Newark Academy in Livingston, New Jersey in the United States from August 7 through August 14, 1989.-Men's Singles:...
. - 1990 - Won the Schenectady open and reached the semi-finals of the 1990 Heineken Open.
- 1991 - Reached the quarter-finals of the Wellington Open.
- 1992 - Reached the semi-finals of the Singapore Open.