Vijay Amritraj (born 14 December 1953) is an Indian former tennis player, broadcaster and actor. The best Indian singles player of the professional era, he reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon and the US Open twice each, beat the greatest players of his day and took India to two Davis Cup finals. He later became a television commentator and a United Nations Messenger of Peace.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Vijay Amritraj |
| Born | 14 December 1953, Madras (Chennai) |
| Age | 72 |
| Sport | Tennis |
| Turned professional | 1970 |
| Career-high ranking | No. 16 in singles (1980) |
| Titles | 16 singles and 13 doubles on the professional tour |
| Grand Slam best | Quarter-finals: Wimbledon (1973, 1981), US Open (1973, 1974) |
| Awards | Arjuna Award (1974), Padma Shri (1983); International Tennis Hall of Fame (2024) |
| Spouse | Shyamala Amritraj |
| Children | 2 |
Early Life
He was born in Madras, the second of three sons of Robert Amritraj, a railway official, and Maggie, who ran a small business and was the driving force of the family. He was a sickly child with weak lungs who spent long periods in hospital. Doctors advised outdoor exercise, and his mother put a racket in his hand. She sat through his school lessons taking notes when he was too ill to attend.
All three brothers, Anand, Vijay and Ashok, became international tennis players. Vijay was coached by T. A. Rama Rao and later by the American champion Pancho Gonzales.
Career
Breakthrough
In 1973, at nineteen, he won a tournament at Bretton Woods in the United States, beating Rod Laver and Jimmy Connors, and reached the quarter-finals of both Wimbledon and the US Open. With Björn Borg and Connors he was spoken of as one of the “ABC” of the coming generation.
The player
He was tall and elegant, with a fine serve and volley and one of the best grass-court games in the world. He beat Borg at the US Open in 1974, and over his career defeated Connors several times and, in 1984, John McEnroe when McEnroe was almost unbeatable. He was thought to lack the ruthlessness to turn such wins into major titles; he lost several famous five-set matches from winning positions.
Davis Cup
- **1974:** India reached the final but refused to play South Africa in protest against apartheid, and forfeited
- **1987:** as playing captain, aged thirty-three, he led India past Argentina and Australia to the final, which was lost to Sweden
With his brother Anand he also formed a strong doubles pair, reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals in 1976.
Beyond Tennis
- **Films:** he played an Indian agent, also named Vijay, in the James Bond film Octopussy (1983), and appeared in Star Trek IV
- **Broadcasting:** he has been a commentator on tennis for television networks around the world for more than three decades
- **United Nations:** he was appointed a Messenger of Peace in 2001
- **The Vijay Amritraj Foundation:** founded in 2006, it supports charities in India working with victims of disease, tragedy and poverty
- **Tennis academy:** the Britannia Amritraj Tennis scheme in Madras in the 1980s trained Leander Paes, among others
In 2024 he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame as a contributor to the game.
Personal Life
He married Shyamala, who is from a Sri Lankan Tamil family, in 1983. They have two sons, Prakash, who played professional tennis and represented India in the Davis Cup, and Vikram. The family lives in California.
Featured image: Vijay Amritraj during the senior invitation doubles final at Wimbledon, July 2000. Photo by VasuVR, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.