The 71-year-old, an International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee, won 15 singles titles and achieved a career-high world ranking of 18 in 1980. His success helped pave the way for future stars like Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi.
However, Amritraj expressed concern over India’s current standing in tennis, recalling a time when the country dominated the Asian circuit.
“I think it’s fair to say that we have fallen back to some extent. We used to be the clear number one country in Asia, and now we are not. Back in the day, when I played tournaments, people were disappointed if I didn’t win. Today, we don’t even have a player in the tournament. We have lost a lot of that prestige, and I believe we need to restart and rebuild to get back to where we belong,” Amritraj said in a recent episode of YoungTurks Reloaded.
He added, “India being in Group II of a Davis Cup match—it’s not something we can look at and say, ‘We are a tennis country.’ We can’t. We need to get back to Group I, and then we need to return to the World Group. As a country, we belong in the World Group, but we have a long way to go before we get there.”
Laver vs The Big Three: Who wins?
Having observed the evolution of global tennis for decades, Amritraj weighed in on the debate over the greatest player of all time. While acknowledging the legendary Rod Laver, against whom he secured several victories, he also praised the achievements of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic.
He noted that the trio not only dominated their era but also pushed each other to unprecedented heights, winning Grand Slam titles in an intensely competitive landscape.
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“Well, I played through several generations. If you look at records, Rod Laver stands out, he’s the only one to have completed two Grand Slams. I was fortunate to play against him, and I even had several wins against him,” Amritraj said.
He added, “But if we look at today’s era, it’s incredible to imagine that the Big Three, Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic, won as many Grand Slams as they did while competing against each other. Having been in the sport for 25 years, I still find it hard to wrap my head around. It reminds me of that line from Troy: ‘I’m glad I lived during the time of Achilles.’”
Squaring off against Rod Laver
Amritraj also recollected his first meeting with Laver, in a match that he believes propelled him to international recognition. Speaking of some of the instances when he overcame difficult injuries, he quipped upon a school tournament as a 13-year-old followed by the National Championships in 1972 when he played 18-19 sets across two days. However, it was his maiden face-off with Laver that sparked massive interest, since Amritraj was not necessarily fit by all means in that encounter.
“The third defining match was the following year, when I faced Rod Laver on Centre Court at the US Open, live on CBS. Until then, nobody had seen an Indian player come out of nowhere and make a mark on the world stage. That match put me on the international map, and more importantly, it put India on the international map in the Open Era. From that moment on, as I travelled the world for the next 20 years playing at the highest level, I felt India growing closer and closer together through my journey,” Amritraj mentioned.
In addition to his 15 singles titles, Amritraj also won 13 championships in the doubles category. He was a critical part of the Indian team that made it to the Davis Cup finals in 1974 and 1987 and had even qualified for the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon and US Open in men’s singles. Amritraj is heralded as one of the pioneering figures who drew interest and recognition towards tennis in the country, and has since then gone on to embark on several journeys in the multimedia, entertainment, and philanthropy spaces.
