Ramanathan Krishnan was the first Indian and the first Asian tennis player to win the boy’s singles title at Wimbledon Championship 1954, beating Ashley Cooper in the finals.
On the playing court Krishnan was a magician, off it, a thorough gentleman. His playing style was known as ‘touch tennis’. Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph described his tennis as “pure oriental charm”. Robert Philip wrote that “each and every Krishnan rally was a thing of rare beauty”. Krishnan was a peerless symbol of a sportsman exuding simplicity that contrasted beautifully with the majesty of his play. Krishnan a prodigy, went on to become the top Indian player of the era. The Kri8shnan saga symbolised a glittering phase in the beginnings of the Indian tennis history.
He has the unique honour of having breakfast with the then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in London. A telegram breakfast invitation that he received at his hotel,the day he won the match aginst Jaroslav Drobny in London in 1956.
Singles: In singles his records includes victories against Czech Jaroslav Drobny and Australian legends Rod Laver and Roy Emerson.
Davis Cup: Krishnan made his debut in the Davis Cup at the age of 16 against Belgium in Perth .In the Doubles final against Australia, Ramanathan Krishnan and Jaideep Mukerjea won the doubles rubber against John Newcombe and Tony Roche. Krishnan was a key member of the Indian team which reached the Davis Cup final for the first time in 1966.
National: Krishnan won the Indian national title for eight years consecutively.
Awards: Awarded the Arjuna Award in 1961, the Padma Shri Award in 1962 and the Padma Bhushan Award in 1967.
Book: ‘A touch of Tennis: The story of a tennis family ‘. Krishnan has written a book alongwith his son Ramesh Krishnan and Nirmal Shekar. The book covers 3 generations of tennis-playing Krishnans published by Penguin Books India.
T K Ramanathan his father introduced the 10 year old Krishnan to the game at the Talkatora club in New Delhi. T K Ramanathan was rated third amongst the Indian tennis players in the 1930’s. T K Ramanathan hailed from Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu. The family subsequently moved to Chennai(Madras) to keep up with the frequent travel required for Krishnan to participate in all the tournaments nationally and internationally.
Krishnan’s son Ramesh Krishnan emulated his fathers feat by winning the Wimbledon Junior title and went on to become a leading Indian tennis player of the 1980’s.
Krishnan lives in Chennai where alongwith his son Ramesh they run the ‘Krishnan Tennis Centre’. The Centre has 11 courts and have all been sponsored by the top stars each one named after them. He also manages a gas distribution agency.