Ramanathan Krishnan Biography For Kids

4to40.com August 18, 2022 Biographies for Kids 3,222 Views

Name:	Ramanathan Krishnan
Born:	11 April 1937 Nagercoil, Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, British India
Country (sports):	India
Fields:	Right-handed Tennis Player
Awards:	Arjuna award in 1961 Padma Shri in 1962 Padma Bhushan in 1967
Career highlights:	1954 – Wimbledon – junior champion 1958 – Northern Championships champion – won close match over Laver 1959 – London Championships champion – defeated Olmedo and Fraser 1959 – U.S. Hard Court Championships champion – defeated Reed and Mulloy 1960 – Wimbledon – seeded seventh, defeated Gimeno and reached the semi-finals (losing to eventual champion Neale Fraser) 1961 – Wimbledon – seeded seventh, defeated Emerson and reached the semi-finals for the second consecutive time (losing to eventual champion Rod Laver) 1963 – Antwerp International champion – defeated Pietrangeli in four set final 1965 – River Oaks International Tennis Championships champion – defeated Osuna, Emerson in four sets, and Richey in four sets 1966 – member of the Indian team which reached the final of the Davis Cup (lost to Australia in the final) 1967 – Antwerp International champion – defeated Emerson in final in three straight sets 1968 – Canadian Open champion – defeated Torben Ulrich in final

Ramanathan Krishnan — In the early 19th century, when lawn tennis was introduced to the Indian masses, the game was dominated by the British, the inventors of the game. Most of the national titles were won by foreign players, largely due to the fact that Indian talent was undiscovered. During the time, the English tennis players dominated the game. Soon after, Indian players started featuring in the game, extensively. They made India’s presence felt at the national level. One among the trendsetters, who popularized lawn tennis among the Indians, is Ramanathan Krishnan. He was one among the world’s leading tennis players in the 1950s and 1960s.

Ramanathan Krishnan: Career

Krishnan learned the skills and nuances of tennis from his father – T.K. Ramanathan. After acquiring the skills, Krishnan soon went on to make it big at the national level. He swept all the junior titles at the national circuit, thus emerging as a promising player. In 1954, Ramanathan Krishnan received international accolade, when he became the first Asian player to win the boy’s singles title at Wimbledon by defeating Ashley Cooper in the final. In 1960, he made it to the semi-finals of the men’s singles competition at Wimbledon. However, he was defeated by Neale Fraser at the event. Nonetheless, Ramanathan reached the Wimbledon semi-finals once again, in the following year.

In 1960, Ramanathan Krishnan was ranked World No. 3 tennis player, for the delivery of outstanding performances in a consistent manner. He regularly featured on the Indian Davis Cup team between 1953 and 1975. Due to his remarkable performance at the national level, he was included in the Indian team, to play at the 1966 Davis Cup. The team reached the finals. Ramanathan Krishnan received nationwide accolade for winning the Indian national tennis titles for eight years at a row. Today, even though he has taken retirement from the game, he is remembered for his scintillating performances and the contribution in making tennis in India stand equivalent to other countries at the international stage.