Nirupama Vaidyanathan

A National Women's Champion at 14

At 17,  she took an unprecedented call to skip Collegiate Education and turned PRO on the World Tennis Circuit

The first Indian Woman to play in a Grand Slam was a Trendsetter and led the way for the NextGen of Tennis Players

Nirupama spearheaded the growth of Women's Tennis in India- Tennis Legend Vijay Amritraj

In the early 1980s, Nirupama would come to the Forest College Ground in Coimbatore to watch her father KS Vaidyanathan, a former Ranji cricketer play for LMW against SVPB and Ramakrishna Steels in the first division cricket league. She was an extrovert even as a 5 year old and would join this writer,  the sons of former Ranji fast bowler B Kalyanasundaram (who also played for LMW in the late 70s and early 80s)  and a few other boys for a game of ‘tennis ball’ cricket on the boundary edge near the Pavilion at the West End. While some of the boys graduated from tennis ball to red ball cricket, Nirupama continued her engagement with the tennis ball and took to tennis seriously in the second half of the 1980s under the mentorship of her father who himself had been a district level tennis player. She was a trendsetter for Indian Women in Tennis. Overcoming financial challenges, she went on to become the India Number One and stayed there for a decade, a period when she also became the first Indian woman to reach the main draw of a Grand Slam. She is also a bronze medalist from the Asian Games.  In November last year, this section had featured a story on a sporting father and daughter duo, where the daughter went on to become a national swimming champion (Mayura Kumar Swimming). This one is of another such duo with the daughter from a Tier two town middle class family without any sponsorship support rising to the top in India. Here is the story. 

The Cricketer Father

After taking to law and beginning his practice in Coimbatore in the early 1960s, KS Vaidyanathan (Vaidy to his teammates) moved to Madras to pursue his cricket motivated by extraordinary performances at the University level.  PR Ramakrishnan (Ramki), who was in the TN Ranji squad for nine matches in the 1970s but never got to play for the state, recalls Vaidhy’s century in a University match “Against Asif Iqbal’s Osmania University, Vaidy went in as a night watchman and bravely encountered a barrage of bouncers to survive the evening. The next day he topped 180 and the innings instantly brought him into limelight.” 

“Many a time Vaidy opened the bowling and provided the initial breakthrough for his team and then he would come back later with his left arm orthodox spin and bowl with teasing flight. He was a gritty batsman who at No. 6 or 7 would often provide support to the top order batsman and hang in when the team required him.”

VV Kumar(VVK), the legendary spinner from the late 1950s and 60s, who watched him closely in that phase, says that although he caught the selectors’ eye very early, he could not progress much “He was one competent leftie who dished out excellent performances year after year with the ball. On matting, he twice broke the seven wickets barrier in city vs districts match.”

A Thorought Bred Gentleman

Kalyanasundaram (Kalli), who played for Jolly Rovers and LMW with Vaidyanathan and who as Nirupama recalls later in this story was a regular at his Race Course road home in Coimbatore, remembers the cricketing acumen and the human side of Vaidhya “He was someone we all looked up to. In a match at the Loyola College ground, after he had opened the bowling and the opposition had got off to a brisk start in the first 4-5overs, he had no hesitation in going to the captain on his own and suggesting to him to bring me into the attack. I took seven wickets and the opposition was bowled out for under a 100. He had a strong cricketing acumen and could read the game well. This also showed that he always placed the team interest ahead of himself.”

"He was a thorough bred gentleman."

Ranji Debut and out soon, forever

Vaidyanathan took four wickets for four runs in his second match in Ranji Cricket but a 'selfless' cricketing incident in the next match meant he was never selected again (will keep the specifics out). He took up a job at India Cements and played for a few years for Jolly Rovers in the 1960s.

N Sankar(Sanmar Sankar), who became an integral part of cricket development in the city along with his father KS Narayanan after taking over Jolly Rovers in the second half of the 1960s remembers Vaidy as a pleasant personality who helped the team with his gritty batting “As a bowler, he could swing the ball at the start of the innings and then later bowl spin.”

Ramki, who had a four decades long association with Vaidyanathan in Coimbatore including spending time with him just ahead of his death last year, believes that Vaidy could have fitted into the state team despite the presence of VV Kumar and Venkat “He was a genuine all rounder and a terrific catcher who took many a good catch at slip.”

Kalli and Vaidy - The English Conversations at Forest College

However, once he knew that the prospects of a Ranji recall was out of sights, he returned to Coimbatore to pursue his legal profession. His father had also taken ill and was confined to a wheel chair. It was Vaidhy who took care of him while he continued his legal practice in Coimbatore. He played for LMW as a guest player and was easily the best spinner on view at the end of the 70s and the early 80s in the Coimbatore league. His command over the English language was outstanding as this writer watched him and 'REC Engineer' Kalli engage in conversations on cricket sitting in that old styled pavilion at the Forest College ground.

A Gifted Sportsman

Former RBI off spinner NS Ramesh played the early years of his cricket under the captaincy of Vaidyanathan “I began my cricket in Coimbatore both for LMW and the Districts under the captaincy of Vaidy. He was a natural cricketer and gifted sportsman. In addition to cricket, he was also good at Tennis and Billiards.”

Won many matches for Tirunelveli 

In the early 1970s, he won many matches for Tirunelveli with the ball, recalls dashing opener KR Rajagopal "We played several matches together. Vaidy was instrumental in us winning many matches as he would take important wickets at crucial moments. It was rare in those days for someone to bowl left arm with the new ball and later spin as well. He was a very good Tennis Player and also participated alongside Ramanathan Krishnan and Jaideep Mukherjee in the All India Tennis Tournament organised in Tirunelveli by KS Raman."

Guile even in his 40s

After having played for Bombay in Ranji Trophy Cricket in the late 1970s, S Srinivasan came back to Madras and played for the state. In the early 80s, he joined SVPB, Udumalpet and was involved in a few battles with Vaidyanathan  "Even late in his Cricketing career,  Vaidy was in his 40s by then, he showed his guile as a bowler with the new ball (Swing ) & old ball (Orthodox Spin). As a batsman, he was gritty & never ever gifted his wicket contributing useful runs."

"I found him to be a calm and composed competitor and human being."

Polished in Conduct

State off spinner from the 1960s R Chandrasekaran (SBI RC) who celebrated his 85th birthday this Friday (May 14) had two stints in Coimbatore in the 1980s first as an AGM at the main branch of SBI. It was a period he built a close friendship with Vaidyanathan “We both played together for RS Puram club and went to the Tripanathura tournament. Though he should have played more matches for the state, he never displayed his frustration at the unjust treatment meted out to him. He was always polished in his conduct. He was a disciplinarian and played a great mentoring role when he initiated his daughter Nirupama into Tennis at the clubs in Coimbatore. ”

While he had been a cricketer for over two decades and continued to play for LMW till he was into his 40s, the cricketing experience had probably left a sour taste in him and led him to initiate his son and daughter into tennis, where one could come up through individual performances and not be dependent on selection. 

The Best Allrounder from Coimbatore

Ramakrishnan played for YMA in Madras and later Ramakrishna Steels in Coimbatore and has had many a cricketing battle with Vaidy in both the cities “He was the best all rounder Coimbatore has seen. He was the kingpin of LMW. He was a popular and highly respected cricketer and a HERO to the cricketers growing up in the 1970s. In those years, it was not easy for a districts sportsperson to make a mark in Madras. While he felt the pinch in cricket, his daughter faced issues in Tennis with not too many sponsors forthcoming to support her endeavour.”

Motivational Coach

For a few years, Vaidyanathan conducted summer coaching camps at the Forest College ground. Rajesh, the elder son of Kalyanasundaram was Ganesh’s classmate at Mani’s school and watched many of the matches LMW played in the late 70s and early 80s. He recounts the two years he was at the camp “Vaidy uncle was a great team player and leader.While he was a very good left arm spinner, what stayed in my mind for a long time was the way he encouraged the players. He was motivational.”

"When he started the summer coaching camp, I joined the camp and learned a lot in the two summers that I spent. The lessons he imparted were invaluable." 

It was those motivational abilities and clear communication that led him to tap into the potential in his daughter and create a champion tennis player.

The early 1980s – Tennis ahead of Cricket

The fact that he had been given a raw deal by the state in cricket was always at the back of his mind. Even though her elder brother Ganesh was a diehard cricket fan in his school days, she remembers her father keeping both of them away from any thoughts on playing the game. He was of the belief that in an individual sport, one could slog and achieve success where as in a game of cricket, one had to depend on the mood of the selectors and probably also had to be in their good books. Also, the fact that her elder cousins, KG Ramesh and KG Suresh, were already into Tennis and doing well tilted the scales towards that sport.

Dominating the Tennis Scene in Coimbatore

His has always been a sporting family. Younger brother, KS Natarajan, was a cricketer while elder brother KS Ganapathy too played for the district. The latter’s two sons, KG Suresh and KG Ramesh, were into tennis very early on. Vaidhyanathan himself was also a tennis player and a districts billiards champion in Coimbatore. While Nirupama spent a good deal of the weekend at Coimbatore’s cricket grounds, once it was time for her to take up a sport, her father initiated her into tennis.

Follows Tennis Legend Krishnan's advice

They resided in the Race Course area with easy access to multiple tennis courts. Her father was a member of the Cosmopolitan Club that was just 400 meters from home and he was playing a lot of tennis in Coimbatore. Tennis facilities were also available at City Club and Association Court.

Vaidyanathan was a great fan of Krishnan, the Tennis Legend. He had heard him say that to aspire to be a tennis player, one needed to have a court to play “One of the first things my father did was to identify a court that we could use at all times. While there were many clubs in Coimbatore with tennis courts, there were restrictions on timings and that meant courts were not always available for us to practice and not at our convenience. My father took care of the maintenance of the court for four years at Pierce Leslie and we were allowed to use it all times that we wanted. For the next six years, my father used another individual court (Mandradiar’s home) where we practiced undisturbed” Nirupama told this writer in a conversation from her home in Florida.

Vaidyanathan began coaching Ganesh in the early 1980s and initially his entire focus was on the son. Nirupama accompanied her brother to the club and spent a majority of her time watching him play. She could not be a bystander and very soon pestered her father to allow her to have a few knocks on the tennis court and gained entry into tennis aged 7, in the summer of 1983, one when India won the Cricket World Cup.

The First Motivating Words from her father

While her father’s tennis attention continued to lay with Ganesh, she slowly began to get more court time. More importantly, almost unnoticed, she seemed to be quietly listening to all the coaching tips of her father.  One evening when her father returned home, she heard him tell her mother that the daughter was grasping the nuances of tennis very fast just by watching her brother play and absorbing his conversations with Ganesh “Those encouraging words from my father motivated me a lot and was my first big boost in tennis and spurred my early interest in the game.” 

A Unique Tennis Problem

Within the first year of her entry into Tennis, Nirupama encountered a unique problem. While there were 25 budding tennis enthusiasts at the City Club, not one was a girl (other than her). And thus right from the beginning she began to play with the boys her age. Her pickup in Tennis was so fast that very soon she began to play against the bigger boys as well and even surprised them by picking up a set.

KG Ramesh – Her Tennis Hero 

While her father was number one in her life, her cousin KG Ramesh was her Tennis Hero through her childhood days. Ramesh, who is now a tennis coach in Coimbatore, swept all tournaments on sight in those years and was someone she looked up to in her growing years. She practiced a lot with him in her formative years.

Ind v Swedan 1985 - Watches her first big match

In 1985, her father took her to Bangalore to watch the Davis Cup Quarter Final against Swedan, the best in the world at that time. It was a team that included top ranked Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg. She remembers that as the first big international match she saw in Tennis.

Into her early teens, in the second half of the 1980s, she was winning inter club tournaments competing in the U14 boys category travelling to Madurai, Dindigul and Salem among other cities!!! The fact that girls were so far away from tennis that decade was best illustrated in the inter club tournaments in the districts. The announcer would often call out the list of U12 and U14 BOYS and shout out her name in that boys list. 

A Tennis Family

The entire family played tennis and once there was even a joke if this family would leave anything for others after they knocked off all the titles – a unique record- cousin KG Ramesh won the Men’s title, he and Ganesh the doubles, her brother picked up the boys’ singles title, she won the girls’ singles and her appa won the veterans title.

When she visited Madras for the first time for a tournament she beat the highly fancied and top ranked Aarathi Venkatesh and went up to the Semi Finals. In her first ever nationals in Hyderabad, she again reached the Semi Finals aged 12!!! ‘At that point, I knew I was not far behind’ recounts Nirupama of that tournament.

Despite her early success, the plan was not to make Tennis a career “Appa wanted us to play for fun, for the discipline it brought to one’s life and he wanted youthful energy to be channelized towards something that was engaging. At that stage in life, being in a sport helped me in setting goals and also created a daily routine for me in life” recalls Nirupama on how her appa wanted her to look at Tennis.

Don’t forget the role of your amma – Vaidyanathan to his daughter

Through that entire period till the turn of the decade, every morning her amma would have a glass of milk ready for her before the clock turned seven “Appa was intense in everything he did. Every morning we would be at the tennis court for about an hour. In the evening, he would pick me up from the St. Josephs School on Trichy Road and we would directly go to the tennis court. It was real fun and we never felt the pressure. At the end of the tennis sessions, there were lots of people at the club and we would engage in chats.”

“Very early on in my life, appa would often talk about the role of my amma and her silent contribution. She was the source of nutrition for us. When I came back from the morning practice, the breakfast would be ready. And in the evening, the hungry girl would be welcomed by the smiling amma holding a tiffen plate in her hand. It is a contribution that often goes unnoticed. But she played a vital role at home each day of my life in that period.”

Brother Ganesh who had been skinny till his mid teens became a bit more muscular and began winning many tournaments beating every player in Coimbatore. But after he graduated, he took up a job in Income Tax and a life away from Tennis. Once her brother went into college, her father turned his tennis attention on her. At 14, she won the National Women’s title and by 16 she was playing in ITF tournaments and Satellites. She had jumped to 30 in Junior World rankings. 

First Time in India - No College, A Girl turns Pro@17

When she was into Class XII, a debate arose on pursuing academics and a possible collegiate education in the US or turning pro in tennis. KG Ramesh remembers those months ahead of her Class XII exams “As with middle class families, we placed a great deal of importance on academics. While she practiced a lot and participated in many tournaments as a teenager, she continued to do well in studies. Finance was clearly a challenge for Tennis Players. When I won tourneys in India, I used that prize money to fund my overseas trips for my tournaments in Europe. But soon after playing in a few tournaments, I would have exhausted the prize money and had to return to India to compete in local tournaments. Despite these potential financial challenges, her father gave her the freedom to take a shot at Tennis and that was a brave decision from my uncle.”

And for the first time in an Indian middle class family, a decision was taken for a teenage girl to turn ‘Tennis Pro’ at 17.

Nirupama says that they were definitely not financially well off for Tennis when she started playing. "When I competed in the ITF tourneys, there was no prize money. I only got some points for every win. Accommodation was provided but the air fare and all other expenses had to be borne by me.”

One off Financial Support from CDTA

One of the earliest financial help came from the Coimbatore District Tennis Association “They provided Rs 40000 which was a big deal for them but for me even that big money helped cover the expenses of just one trip.”

Prize money in Indian State Ranking Tournaments that were in the order of Rs. 10000 to Rs. 50000 helped cover some of the overseas expenses. In an all India invitation tourney, when she won the women’s tournament (Ramesh Krishnan won the Men’s) and secured Rs. 50000, she immediately went and participated in a tournament in Japan.  

The first and only corporate support

The biggest corporate support came from Indian Bank. The Bank sponsored 10000 dollars for her overseas trip but that was about the only corporate deal she had in that entire phase even though she had been India’s Number One Women’s player since the time she was 14 and had won almost all the tournaments in the country. It seemed to her that being in a Tier two city like Coimbatore was a clear disadvantage. 

As Nirupama looks back almost three decades after she began to dominate the Indian Tennis Scene, she is hugely disappointed that the TNTA did not help her even a wee bit in that entire phase “Indian Bank was the only organization that supported me. The TNTA could have done a lot but failed to do so. Even today I wonder why they did not support me in any way.”

In fact the current TNTA President Vijay Amritraj has been in talks with her to see if she could help girls’ tennis in Tamil Nadu and is hoping that some progress can be made after the Pandemic is out of the way.

It was the then Sports Secretary DV Sundar who pitched with the sports loving Chairman of Indian Bank, M Gopalakrishnan, to offer her a job at 18 that he thought would provide her some financial security. Talking from his home in Thoraippakam, Sundar showers lavish praise on Nirupama on her contribution to Tennis  “She was already the Number One in Tennis in India and had begun to do well on the Pro Tour. I thought a job in the bank would provide her financial security and that she would be able to pursue her tennis career with confidence. When I pitched the idea with our Chairman, he readily agreed.  She was the best player at that time and brought laurels to the country. We just wanted to do our bit for a sportswoman from Tamil Nadu.”

She participated in Junior Wimbledon and French Open but did not have money to go to the US and Australian Open.She remembers her appa writing letters to several corporates for sponsorships but there was no light at the end of the ‘Tennis Tunnel” that seemed dark for women’s players of that era. 

As she looks back at those disappointments in the mid 1990s, she thinks that she was at least 10 years ahead of time. Much later, with the technological developments, communication became a lot easier and sponsorship became better for those who succeeded her in Indian Tennis.

It was during the junior tournament in Wimbledon that a coach handed his visiting card and promised to train her in Luxemburg.  As a teenager she was all excited at this unexpected opportunity to be trained in Europe. Her Appa instantly approved and decided that amma would accompany her on the trip. “Within a week of our reaching Luxemburg, we found the coach missing. He had gone into hiding after a financial mess with his other students and we were left in the lurch.”

When she was in Luxemborg, a story featured in The Hindu that a Sardar in Europe had agreed to sponsor her and take care of her entire expense. It turned out to be a faux pas. “Everyone congratulated me on a non existant sponsorship”!!!

Having left Coimbatore in great excitement, it would have been embarrassing to return home and she stayed back contemplating on the next plan of action. An Indian family in Luxemburg came forward to support her for three months providing accommodation. A Swedish Tennis School came forward to train her free till the time she started earning “The typical fee was Rs. 1000 an hour but they believed in my potential and backed me” says Nirupama. 

All alone on Scary European Nights!!!

To save on the costs, amma returned home. Nirupama was all of 18 and travelling all over Europe, all alone. In this phase she travelled to Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Spain and Italy “Sometimes I would board a train at 4am, other times I would be all alone in a railway platform at 2am. There were no phones, no ATM cards. It was a scary life for a teenage girl and was not something that those back in India could have visualized. Everyone thought that I was leading a glamourous life but tennis on the pro tour is anything but that. You are running from the station to the court and then again back to the station to head to another city. You are always short on money. It is a very rough life. You just get tired and burned out. While the financial aspect was definitely a dampener and the consequent inability to hire a coach and a physio affected my performance and growth, the absence of my parents meant I was all alone for long periods of time. The emotional impact on a young woman is hard to tell.Thankfully I survived that phase.”

Away from the family and without a coach - The psychological impact for a young girl 

For the first 17 years of her life, she was always with her parents and that meant a great psychological support. The biggest challenge for her after turning pro was the amount of time she spent away from the family. International calls were very expensive and her parents would talk for a few minutes once a week, mostly on a Sunday. The typical mode of communication was through a fax message “My appa would send hand written motivational messages in the first half of the page while my amma would write out recipes to cook for that month. Yes, I also had to cook my own food!!! 

By the end of 1995, she had become a top 300 player and a year later had jumped into the top 200 which meant she could enter the qualifying draw for the Grand Slams. By this time, she was also beginning to make some money out of Tennis. Reaching the semi finals of challengers got her $700-$800. Youth travel in Europe got big discounts in those days. But financing the tours continued to remain a big challenge. After she lost in the 2nd round of the qualifier in the French Open, money ran out. She had got into the main draw in Uzbekistan but did not have money and had to return to Coimbatore without playing.

She says Tennis LegendVijay Amritraj did ask her to come to Madras to be coached in his academy but she was in Europe in that phase and hence could not benefit from the coaching at his academy. In the second half of the 1990s, she shifted to the US and found a coach Dave O’Meara of the Brittania Amritraj Tennis Foundation. But he too did not travel often with her for tournaments and only trained her in the US.

The Best Year in Tennis

1998 turned out to be the best year in Tennis. In January, she managed to enter the main draw of the Australian Open through a wild card entry, the first Indian woman to do so. Her coach was there with her for that particular tournament but given the financial constraints she missed her parents at the Grand Slam. She would have loved their presence but the finances simply did not permit. It improved her rankings but it was not enough to propel her into the main draw of the other Grand Slams and she continued to remain in the Qualifiers.

That year, she also bagged the bronze medal at the Asian Games in Bangkok “I was confident of going for the Gold but with Mahesh Bhupathi playing in every single segment, he was completely exhausted by the time he got into the mixed doubles. The playing of the national anthem while she was on the podium was a memorable moment in my life.”

Spearheaded the growth of Women's Tennis in India

Vijay Amritraj had just finished his career as a player in 1990 and had begun his commentary stint in 91. Talking to this writer from his home in Los Angeles, Vijay said that it was exciting to see an Indian woman on the professional tour that decade. "We still had a long way to go in women’s tennis in India. Nirupama spearheaded the growth of women’s tennis in India.  Given the circumstances of Indian Tennis at that time, I think she did as well as one could and came away from the tour as a great professional."

Couple of decades later after she had finished with her playing career, Vijay invited her to do commentary at the Chennai Open “I found her to be a great tennis enthusiast. She enjoys imparting with youngsters the knowledge she has garnered in Tennis over the decades. She has been coaching in the US, which is a good thing. But as the President of the TNTA, I have been keen to bring her to India on a coaching engagement. This pandemic has put everything in a mess and Sport has been affected quite badly. Once we get out of this, I am hoping that she will be able to associate herself with the development of Indian Tennis in some way.”

A return to Tennis after a decade

In 2010, she found that she was working harder than the kids in the academy. And felt the urge to get back on court as a player. She worked hard for several months and played in the commonwealth tournament. Just ahead of the Asian Games match, her daughter had pneumonia. She did not sleep through the night and went to the court the next day. The comeback was a big personal achievement for her and showed to herself that she could still compete on the tennis court.

KG Ramesh who has been running an academy in Coimbatore over the last 8 years says that she was talented as a teenager. She was tenacious, physically strong for her age and had an attitude to win. Her aspirations were also high. Her basics were strong and this resulted in her reaching the top in India by the time she was in her mid teens.

Miraculous to be 130the ranked without a coach and a physio

While I knew she would make it to the top in India, we were not so sure of international success. That was far away in our minds. In fact, I was surprised with the success she achieved on pro tours without a coach and a physio. She could not afford a coach. Her appa even sold lands to fund her tennis. There was very little corporate support or sponsorship. Without any of these, the success she achieved on the pro tour and the top200 ranking was miraculous.

Turns a Commentator

Last decade, she had a short stint as a commentator when Vijay Amritraj invited her for the Chennai Open “It was a great experience to be sitting alongside him and doing commentary at the Chennai Open and the Wimbledon. Vijay was simply amazing. He was supportive and gave me tips through the tournaments. He is a big ambassador for the game and the country.”

Top 100 Goal remained unfulfilled

Her Tennis goal of wanting to be in the Top 100 in the world remained unfulfilled right till the end. She managed to reach 130 in the rankings. One of her biggest professional challenges was that she could not afford a coach or a physical trainer to be with her after she had decided to turn pro. In 8 of the 12 Grand Slam Qualifiers she went into the third set of the final round, that was how close she came each time. She says that in those times, a physio or a coach could have made a big difference.

The Annapoorna Dosai 

She recalls with great delight the fun times with her father in the 1980s. The dosai from Annapoorna and the juice immediately after at Pazha Mudhir Cholai were outstanding. The beautiful weather, the water from Siruvani and the life in the race course and the inspirational drive of my father waking me every morning to take me to the tennis court are unforgettable memories from the decades gone by. Among the regulars for a sporting conversation was former cricketer 'Kalli Uncle'. Her brother Ganesh, with whom she has had a wonderful relationship over the last four decades, runs her Tennis Academy full time “He sacrificed a lot for me and has always been a perfect brother.”

Only my Appa knew my real struggles

Looking back on her career, Nirupama has mixed feelings “My appa was my biggest fan. He knew my struggles that not many others understood.  He was happy with what I had achieved. I had beaten a top 10 ranked player (Magdalena Maleeva) and other top 30 players. But there was a big push that is required in the pro circuit with support staff and 'I simply did not have that'. "

“He was disappointed that he could not give me the monetary push to have a personal coach and a physio that would have made a big difference in my career. In a non technology world, he tried his best to convince sponsors to fund my tennis ambitions but none seemed to be interested. However, both of us were thankful and grateful that I could do what I did. It could have been better but it was a great experience to be the first Indian woman to do what I did – getting into the pro circuit at 17, getting into the Grand Slam and staying there for over a decade.”

CROWNING MOMENT OF HER LIFE

Nirupama counts her appa launching her book in Coimbatore as the Crowning moment of her life "My appa was the architect of my tennis life. Till his final breath, I was a super obedient student. For him to launch my book was the greatest feeling I have had in my tennis life. It remains the Crowning Moment of my Life.”

 

Till 2010 or so, Vaidyanathan had been actively involved in Tennis playing doubles at Coimbatore’s tennis courts. In the last decade, after his son and daughter had settled in the US, he led a rather quiet retired life in Coimbatore “His knee had given way a result of that old injury on Loyola College ground where he twisted his ankle. He did not play tennis in the last five years or so. He would often visit the clubs and read the newspapers but his health deteriorated quite badly. I called on him and visited him in January 2020 a couple of months before he passed away” recalls Ramki of the final months of Vaidhy’s life."

“He devoted almost his entire time to coaching Nirupama and spent his life’s savings on her tennis”. He could not have done anything more for his daughter, says Ramki. 

Vaidhyanathan had a painful final few days of his life, last year. Nirupama was by his bed side in those testing times. She remembers him for his cheerful attitude and says ‘he was never bogged by obstacles”. 

“His smile lasted till the last days of his life. His love for English Literature fascinated me. He would often roll out quotes from Shakespeare.  Those final few days, he was in big pain. I would start a sentence from Hamlet and his passion was so high that even in those painful moments, he would complete the sentence with a smile.”

Those were the memories he passed away with, that of creating a first in India. Hailing from a middle class family in Coimbatore to be able to motivate your daughter to turn PRO at 17 and giving your everything for her - all his financial resources, the physical properties, the psychological motivation through faxed letters, the physical presence around the world when the finances permitted - all in an effort to see her succeed in her tennis career. 

He himself could not reach his potential in Cricket but ensured his daughter reached the top in Tennis and laid a benchmark for the next generation to emulate.