The Gentleman Tennis
Legend from Tenkasi
Refused a Large Professional Contract at
the peak of his career so he could continue to play at Wimbledon as well as in
the Davis Cup
Vijay
Amritraj was truly inspired by the pronouncement made by his coach TA Rama Rao
in the context of making a career choice - ‘There are many doctors, engineers and lawyers in India but (there is)
only one Krishnan.’ This prompted
the 9year old Don Bosco School boy to bunk class (he was severely punished the
next day at school) and walk to the Egmore Stadium to watch Krishnan play in the
Davis Cup match against Mexico in the first week of December 1962. It was the
first time he had watched Krishnan play.
Tennis
was a very expensive sport and Vijay’s parents did not have much money.
However, this statement from Vijay’s coach was enough for his mother to get
Vijay (a sickly child) to pursue tennis seriously. From that time, Vijay was
always inspired to be out of the ordinary and to achieve something special in
life.
That
is the legendary Ramanathan Krishnan for you – an iconic personality, a true
gentleman, both on and off the court and an inspiration for an entire
generation of aspiring tennis players in India. He was India No. 1 for almost
two decades, Asian Champion for five years and a National Champion 8years in a
row. He still remains the only Indian to have reached the Semi Finals at
Wimbledon twice. During the late 50s and
early 60s, he beat most of the greats of world tennis including Rod Laver, Andres
Gimeno, Neale Fraser, Chuck Mckinley, Sven Davison and Barry Mackay, all the
time being a great ambassador of our country.
Early Tennis days in Tenkasi
It
was rather a strenuous beginning for Krishnan at his home town in Tenkasi. The
boy was all of eleven years and he had just come back after spending a few
years in Delhi. There was no electricity in the town. Nor was there drinking
water available at home. In 1948, there were only bullock carts and a few buses
in Tenkasi, with just a couple of cars. He would ride 6kms every morning to the
Courtallam Falls to bring water home and then leave for the District Board High
School. This became almost a daily
routine for the youngster.
Born
in Bhoothapandy (his mother’s home town) near Nagercoil, Krishnan spent his
first three years at Tenkasi before shifting base to Delhi on his father TK
Ramanathan’s Govt posting there. Watching his father (Ramanathan was Delhi No.
1 and National No. 3) play led Krishnan to taking to Tennis very early on in
his life while schooling at Madrasi High School in Delhi. As a young boy,
Krishnan would play regularly at the Talkatora Club along with his father who
also doubled up as his coach.
Back
in Tenkasi after completing his stint in Delhi, Ramanathan took over and
maintained the only tennis court in the district, at the Taluk Office, where the
young Krishnan would practice hard every day. Krishnan’s father was a great
coach and a hard task master, and believed in speed of improvement.
By
the time he was 12, Krishnan had played tournaments at the Kovilpatti Union
Club, the Gymkhana Club in Tuticorin and also in Virudhunagar. This was
particularly noteworthy because in those days tennis was not meant for school
boys. Krishnan was probably the first school boy in India to play in leading open
tournaments.
School boy in a College
Tourney!!!
In
May 1950, two reasons led to Ramanathan moving to Madras. His daughter had
completed her schooling and there was no college in Tenkasi. He saw some early
signs of tennis talent in his son Krishnan and felt that Madras would help him
develop his skills better given the increased number of opportunities available
in the city.
(After
many decades, Krishnan recently made a nostalgic trip to Tenkasi taking along
with him his grand children to whom he relived his childhood days of playing
under the Courtallam waterfalls)
September
that year was time for the Stanley Cup Tennis Tourney at Loyola College. It was
a tournament meant for College students. It was only a few months since
Krishnan had shifted base to Madras. And this young 13year old boy was almost
completely unknown to anyone in the city.
Ramanathan
persisted relentlessly with the physical director and the principal of the
college to give this young kid an entry. It did not seem to make sense to allow
an unknown school boy from RKM (Main) into a tournament that was conducted exclusively
for college students. But finally Ramanathan’s persistence prevailed and Krishnan
was allowed an entry. It was expected that the young boy would be soundly
beaten and that it would be ‘practice time’ for the seniors playing against
this school kid.
To
their shock and to the delight of the huge crowd, Krishnan beat them one after
another including Seshadri and C Ramakrishnan of the Law College and won the
tournament. Tennis fans in Madras welcomed new comers. And Krishnan became an
instant hit and gained their immense support, one that stayed on throughout his
20year tennis career.
First Singles and Doubles Victory
at the Mylapore Club
In
the Prestigious Mylapore Club tournament, he won the Singles on the Eastern
Court and then combined with his father to bag the doubles crown as well. As he
now goes around the Mylapore Club, he is saddened to find that this favourite Eastern
court where he first won the singles and doubles titles is no more part of the
Club.
It
was also at the Mylapore Club that Krishnan first met with TV Balagopal, a
renowned tennis player of that generation. Watching Balagopal play inspired
Krishnan and spurred him on to perform better.
He
made his first overseas trip in 1952 when he made it to the Wimbledon Juniors.
Two years later, he became the Junior Champion at Wimbledon beating Ashley
Cooper in the final (the first Asian to do so) and also became the No.1 Junior
player in the World.
By
then, he had won the Men’s Nationals and had become the No.1 player in the
country. He had had a rapid and an unprecedented jump to the senior grade. He
had also represented India in the Davis Cup as a 16year old.
Davis Cup SF wins – Father and
Son
The
joke in the 60s was that Ramesh went from Cradle to the Tennis court. Grandpa
Ramanathan coached Ramesh from the time he was just 5years. In 1981, Krishnan
moved over to his current residence on Oliver Road where he also set up a grass
court to coach his son Ramesh. He still proudly maintains the grass court!!!
Krishnan
rates winning the crucial 5th rubber against Brazil in the Davis Cup
SF in Calcutta in 1966 to take Indian into the Davis Cup Final as one of his
best moments in his tennis career. He was warmly supported that day by many of
the Mylapore Club members who came all way to Calcutta to watch that match.
Just
over two decades later, Ramesh brought back pleasant memories for Krishnan when
he beat Wally Masur (once again in the deciding 5th rubber) to take
India into the finals of the Davis Cup (A fortnight before the match, Ramesh made
a long trip from Mylapore to Vijay Amritraj’s house in Los Angeles and the two
practised hard, day in day out, to try and get India victory against the
seemingly invincible Aussies and it paid rich dividends).
Krishnan’s
daughter Gowri was a national champion as well (his son in law TS Tirumurthy is
a High Commissioner in Malaysia).
Highest Recognition
He
was awarded the Padma Shri, Arjuna Award and Padma Bhushan as early as the
1960s – all by the time he had turned 30 such was his phenomenal contribution
to Tennis.
He
is particularly proud to have played in every nook and corner of India
unmindful of the lack of proper facilities. In the 1960s, several thousands of tennis fans thronged the court at West Boulevard
Road (near Main Guard Gate) in Trichy to watch him play an exhibition match against
Neale Fraser. Krishnan counts the passionate support from fans across the
country as one of his most memorable experiences of his life.
He
had a Demi-God status where ever he went - be it in Madurai, Coimbatore,
Cannanore or Ernakulam, the interior districts of AP or even the remote rural
locations across North India. He was never fussy about ‘comforts’ even though
he was a top ranked player, globally. To him, playing tennis came first. The
venue or the facilities, off court, just did not matter to him.
Refused a big
Professional Contract
Impressed
with his top class performances through the 1950s, Jack Kramer came up to Krishnan
in 1959 with a seemingly irresistible offer - a big professional contract that would have
helped Krishnan make millions of dollars in a short period of time. The
contract offer was kept alive for three years but Krishnan turned it down.
Krishnan
considers this as one of the greatest decisions he took in his life, that of
not succumbing to the ‘dollar pressure’ and living a simple and contended life.
There is lot of money and glamour in the sport now. It wasn’t so then and the
prize money in even the leading tournaments would not cover even the basic
expense of Krishnan. Viewed against this back drop, the decision to reject that
offer says it all about Krishnan. Playing at Wimbledon and for India in the
Davis Cup meant everything for him.
As I prepare to leave his house
that is full of Tennis photos, he jokes, reminding me of Vijay’s statement of
Krishnan being incredibly funny ‘If I had accepted that global professional
contract, you may not have been able to meet me today, for I would have been in
a big bungalow in a high profile location in the US’!!!
(Since
the early 1960s, Krishnan has been running the Indane Gas Agency (IOC) on ThiruvengadamStreet
in Mandaveli )
Krishnan’s Best
Best
Year : 1959
- RANKED World No.3
Best
Period : 1959 – 65- RANKED in the Top 10
in the world
Best
Match : Beating Roy Emerson in Straight Sets at
Wimbledon, 1961
Record : Reaching SF at Wimbledon twice a feat unsurpassed
by an Indian (Singles)
TS Santhanam’s intro at
Wimbledon
Krishnan
was playing at Wimbledon. He heard big and consistent cheer from the stands. At
the end of the match, the man came up to the young Krishnan and introduced
himself, words that Krishnan simply cannot forget almost 60years later ‘Sir, they call me TV Sundaram Iyengar’s son.
I really enjoyed your game today. Congratulations
on a great win.’ Later that year, Krishnan heard the same voice shouting
for him at Forest Hills (in the US).
‘At
that time, TS Santhanam was already a renowned personality in the corporate
sector having achieved big successes in the auto space. It was the kind of
introduction that was so typical of the man’ says Krishnan. ‘He was
affectionate and unassuming. For him to walk up to me to introduce (himself) in
the way he did and to wish me well was a humbling experience.’
‘I
was so happy when I heard that the Mylapore Club, with support from the TVS
Group companies, was conducting an annual tournament in his memory. It is
befitting that there is a national tournament named after him for he was such a
great patron of Tennis all his life.’
TK Ramanathan spotted the
spark in N Srinivasan
Ramanathan
started the first tennis coaching camp in Madras (in RA Puram) in the 1950s. N
Srinivasan was part of that camp. He was a very young boy but Ramanathan immediately
spotted the spark in him. He was giving it a good fight against boys much
senior to him. NS was one of Ramanathan’s favourite boys. Well over 5decades
later, Krishnan remembers those words of his father made at the tennis court
then ‘Whatever this boy does in his life, he will not give up easily. Even when he is back to the wall, it is
likely he will fight till the end.’ Krishnan can see that spark in NS even
today as he fights off so many challenges in his career, both in the company that
he runs as well as in cricket administration.
Krishnan’s Story Telling
was ‘Incredibly Funny’ and ‘Extremely Clean’ - Vijay Amritraj
‘When
we were growing up, we always felt that when Krishnan played in India, he could
not lose. I
was born in the year that Krishnan won his first nationals. Interestingly,
18years later, I beat him to bag the National Championship’
Vijay
played under Krishnan’s captaincy for several years and then took over the
captaincy of the Indian team from him and held the Chair till the end of his
career. Ramesh played under Vijay’s Captaincy and Vijay’s son Prakash under
Ramesh’s. ‘The two families remained ‘professionally’ connected for several
decades and I was fortunate to have played with both – the father and the son.’
Vijay
credits Krishnan for inspiring him in his long and fascinating tennis journey
that gave him everything in life ‘When Krishnan was in the captain’s Chair, it
gave me immense confidence. In between points, I would just glance at him and
that was enough for me to be guided into what I should be doing next. Such a
confidence is tough to instil but Krishnan was able to do that. Having spent
all those years with Krishnan, I think I was able to instil the same confidence
in Ramesh when I took over in the Captain’s chair.’
Incredibly Funny
‘It
is difficult to believe that Krishnan, who was a man of few words in public,
was an absolutely different personality when he was 1-1 with us. His anecdotal
way of explaining complex things and his storytelling ability was ‘incredibly
funny’ and ‘extremely clean’, a unique combination which is very hard to do,
really.’
‘In
the early days, I enjoyed playing the Davis Cup because of his presence at the
Chair. Both on and off the court, he brought out the true spirit of what India,
and more particularly what Madras, stood for. He was a true ambassador for both
the sport and the country, and a role model for every aspiring tennis player of
my generation.’
