Back in Madras, India, little did Vijay Amritraj know that his parents and attending physicians knew just what the cure would be for his respiratory issues as an adolescent – sports.
“Being unhealthy as a child and spending time in and out of hospitals, having an IV in me and not being able to get to school on a regular basis, I started playing tennis for the simple reason of my health,” Amritraj recalled at the International Tennis Hall of Fame where he will be inducted as a “contributor” to the game in July.
“This is truly a blessing and an honor to be included in the history of tennis, among the greats who have played and served the sport,” said Amritraj, who alongside fellow Indian Leander Paes will become the first Asian men to be enshrined in Newport. “It is a gift from above for me and my family and an honor for India.”
Long considered one of the great ambassadors for the sport on continents across the globe since his retirement from the game in 1993, Amritraj was one of the pioneers in using tennis as a tool to advance social causes.
Amritraj was the recipient of Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award.
Since 2001 Amritraj has been a United Nations “Messenger of Peace,”raising awareness of the issues of drugs and HIV/AIDS and has raised funds to fight the spread of AIDS worldwide. And in 2006, he founded the Vijay Amritraj Foundation to financially assist such causes.
“I would get typhoid, jaundice — every single illness would come to me because my lungs were so weak,” Amritraj said. “I grew up with lung problems, I couldn’t breath to 100 percent capacity. It got worse. To expand the breathing, expand my lungs, they (physicians) wanted you to play sports, to exercise and that’s how tennis came into my life.”
Amritraj compiled a 19-8 record in pro tour singles title matches during his career, including winning a trio of titles in Newport — the very first championship ever staged in 1976 (beating Brian Teacher) and again in 1980 (beating Andrew Pattison) and 1984 (beating Tim Mayotte).
The Hall of Fame unveiled a $12M restoration and renovation of its museum, the first chapter (at $3M) to begin in November under the direction of CEO Dan Farber and President Patrick McEnroe. The museum will be close in November and re-open in the spring of 2025.
Amritraj was nominated in the Tennis Hall of Fame Contributor Category, which recognizes “true pioneers, visionary leaders, or individuals/groups who have made a transcendent impact on the sport.” He will be honored along with Paes during the Hall of Fame Championships July 14-21, the final year of it being an ATP Tour event.
“For my parents (Maggie Dhairyam and Robert Amritraj), it was flying blind, trying to make something of someone who didn’t have the capability of anything of that nature (sports),” Amritraj said.
“It was ingrained in my head that I could get somewhere in life because of my mom and dad,” he added. “They had strength and love and compassion and discipline that they brought to the table, to make me into something I never dreamt to become.”
Amritraj was a member of India’s Davis Cup finals team in 1974 and 1987, while posting 399 career singles tour wins and 284 doubles wins from 1973-88. He reached his highest career ranking of No. 18 in 1980.d. In 1973 he reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, losing in five sets to eventual champ Jan Kodes and then beat Rod Laver at the U.S. Open.
A year later, he beat Bjorn Borg in the second round of the 1974 U.S, Open and John McEnroe in 1984 in Cincinnati, eventually winning five of his 11 career meetings with Jimmy Connors.
Amritraj played in his first pro tournaments in 1970 and lost in the first round in 13 of the 14 in which he entered. . “My brother (Anand) and I went to Las Vegas to train with Roscoe Tanner and it changed the way that I played the game.
“I had unconsciously modeled by tennis on (Pancho) Gonzalez. We started to travel, it was improving what I had.
“I have to go back to 1972 the year that I won the national (India) championship, for the first time beating the No. 1 player (in India, Ramanthan Krishnan) in four sets and I won the doubles title an hour or two later, beating the No. 1 team in five sets,” Amritraj said of his tennis trajectory
“You can imagine the thought that I had in my head, at 17 or 18 years old, playing at Wimbledon. One, I kept saying to myself, is this you? And two, are you capable of living up to the expectations and dreams that I had, thinking that I had the audacity to do well and make a mark.”
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