Rhode Island [US], July 21 (ANI): Indian tennis legends Leander Paes and Vijay Amritraj became the first Asian players to be formally inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in a gliterring ceremony.
On Saturday, in the ceremony, both players raised the Tricolour high with honour as they were formally inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Now 70, Amritraj peaked at 18 and 23 in singles and doubles careers, respectively, winning 13 doubles and 15 singles titles throughout his journey as a tennis player which lasted over two decades.
Paes, who also played from 1991-2021, had peak rankings of number 73 in singles and number one in doubles. The Kolkata-born star won a total of one singles title and 54 doubles titles, having won each Grand Slam event, i.e., the Australian Open (2012), the French Open (1999, 2001, and 2009), Wimbledon (1999), and US Open (2006, 2009, and 2013). He also has a Olympic medal in tennis, having secured a bronze during the 1996 Olympics at Atlanta in the men’s singles competition, making him the first Asian in Olympic history to win a tennis medal and, to this day, the only Indian.
Paes said that it is special to have two Indians being inducted into the Hall of Fame and thanked Amritraj for believing in him when he was young and having him there at his academy, which honed his craft.
“I think it is really special to have two Indians inducted into the Hall of Fame,” Paes told ATPTour.com.
“I have so much respect for Vijay and what he has given to me and the opportunity as a young boy in his academy, as well as for his mom and dad, Mr And Mrs Amritraj, for supporting me and believing in me,” he added.
Amritraj and Paes’ careers are intertwined, as the latter was a part of Amritraj’s academy. The 70-year-old faced doubts over his career as he struggled with lung issues as a youngster.
Amritraj recalled struggling with lung disease and being told by his mother that he was going to be one of the best tennis players produced by India who would go on to play all over the world. He said that his mother’s “strength and belief” was embedded in him.
“You are lying in a hospital bed, and your mother is telling you you’re going to be the best tennis player India has ever had and you are going to be playing around the world, and Indians all over the world are going to come and watch you play,” Amritraj recalled.
“At seven years old, what is she telling you about? Not that she knew about it, because she had not been there. So it is not like she is talking from experience or anything else. But it was a mother’s strength and belief that were embedded in me. So then, when it finally happens, and you have something like this accolade to be bestowed on you, the whole life from seven to 70 just kind of flashed before me, and everything that I did,” he added.
Amritraj was making a name for himself quite early in his career, reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals at 19 years of age. Notably, the current champion, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, did not reach the quarterfinals in this tournament till he was 20 and he lifted the title.
Amritaj also led India to two finals at the Davis Cup. Though he could never win a Grand Slam title, it showed millions of children back in India that gaining success and fame in tennis was possible.
He credited his parents, Bob and Maggie, for encouraging him to dream higher.
“They took upon a challenge of saying that you are going to be a lot more than that, where the world is going to come and watch you. And I do not know what they meant with that,” Amritraj said.
“They were two ordinary people who ended up doing extraordinary things in my life. I had very little to do with it. I just happened to be born to them, the greatest parents I have ever known. This is also after [my mom] had, in her 30s, two horrific accidents. So they taught me parenting like I have never seen in my life,” he added.
Paes came from a sporting family that had already made Indians proud on the global stage, with his father Vece being a part of the 1972 Olympics bronze medal winning hockey team. His mother, Jennifier was also the captain of basketball team in the same event.
The Kolkata-born was interested in cricket and football growing up, but his parents and Amritraj were a proof that other sports could be turned into careers as well.
Paes said that the Amritraj family has done a lot for tennis.
“The Amritraj family has done a lot for sport and a big congratulations to Vijay for being inducted into the Hall of Fame in the contributor category. It is so apt that he actually gave me that opportunity,” he said.
Paes went on to win just one singles title, but managed to craft an envious doubles championships resume, winning 54 of them. His only singles title came in Newport, where he was inducted into the Hall of Fame along with Amritraj, a three-time Newport singles champion.
Both have made a permanent impact in their country’s sporting and tennis history.
Amritraj said that being able to do what he did is unimaginable because he accomplished big things in tennis at a time when it was not meant to be for him, as not only he had struggles with health, but India was not a big power within the sport.
“This incredible legacy of people looking at this place as a museum well after I am gone is truly, truly unimaginable. I cannot put thoughts or words into it, because it is not just saying impossible is nothing. It is much more than that. It is more of of a question, for me anyway, of India being in the Hall of Fame, the tricolor, and the anthem. And to me, that is the most important bit because I did it as an Indian at a time when it was not meant to be,” he concluded. (ANI)
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