Ramesh Krishnan (born 5 June 1961) is an Indiantennis coach and former professionaltennis player.[1] As a junior player in the late 1970s, he won the singles titles at both,Wimbledon and theFrench Open. He went on to reach threeGrand Slam quarterfinals in the 1980s and was a part of theIndian team captained byVijay Amritraj which reached the final of theDavis Cup in1987 against Sweden. Krishnan also beat then-world No. 1,Mats Wilander, at the1989 Australian Open. He became India's Davis Cup captain in 2007.
Ramesh was born inMadras,[2] India, and is the son ofRamanathan Krishnan who reached the Wimbledon semifinal twice in the 1960s. Ramesh emulated an achievement of his father's by winning the Wimbledon junior title in1979. He also won the French Open junior title that year, achieving what would be called Junior Channel Slam, and was ranked the No. 1 junior player in the world.
At the senior level, Ramesh reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon once (1986) and theUS Open twice (1981 and1987). 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 semifinals againstAustralia, played on grass he beatJohn Fitzgerald in four sets the opening singles match, and then defeatedWally Masur in straight sets the decisive fifth rubber to give India a 3–2 victory. However, in the final against Sweden, which was played on clay, an unfavorable surface for the Indian team, India was defeated 5–0 with Krishnan losing two singles matches toMats Wilander andAnders Järryd and with the Indian team managing to win only one set. 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).[citation needed]
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; he also won four challenger singles titles (defeating the teenageAndre Agassi in the Schenectady final in 1986). His career-high singlesranking was world No. 23, in January 1985.[citation needed]
In 1998, Ramesh was awarded thePadma Shri by theGovernment of India in recognition of his achievements and contributions to Indian tennis.[3]
Ramesh runs a tennis academy in Chennai, set up along the lines of similar institutions in the United States. He becameIndia Davis Cup team captain in January 2007.[4]
1987 – Member of the Indian team which reached the final of theDavis Cup. (Krishnan won the decisive singles rubber against Australia in the semifinals. India went on to lose to Sweden in the final.)
1989 – Defeated the then world No. 1,Mats Wilander, in the second round of the Australian Open.
1989 – Won the Auckland Open, reached the quarterfinals of theSchenectady Open and Washington DC Open in back to back weeks in July. He reached the quarterfinals of the1989 Livingston Open.
1990 – Won the Schenectady Open and reached the semifinals of the1990 Heineken Open.
1991 – Reached the quarterfinals of the Wellington Open.
1992 – Reached the semifinals of the Singapore Open.
India
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