Vijay Amritraj

Vijay Amritraj

Born: December 14, 1953
Age: 70
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Biography

Vijay Amritraj (born 14 December 1953) is a former tennis player from India, sports commentator and actor. He was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honor in 1983.

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Early life

Vijay was born in Chennai, India to Maggie Dhairyam and Robert Amritraj. He has two brothers, Anand Amritraj and Ashok Amritraj, who were also international tennis players. He did schooling in Chennai and later graduated from Loyola College, Chennai.

Career

After playing his first grand prix event in 1970, Amritraj achieved his first significant success in singles in 1973 when he reached the quarterfinals at two Grand Slam events. At Wimbledon, he lost in five sets to the eventual champion Jan Kodeš and later that summer at the US Open, lost to Ken Rosewall after having beaten Rod Laver two rounds earlier.

Amritraj beat Björn Borg in the second round in Forest Hills Open in 1974 before losing to Rosewall in quarterfinals. In 1979, he lost in the 2nd round of Wimbledon to defending champion Borg after being up two sets to one and leading 4-1 in the fourth set. He reached his career high ranking in singles of World No. 16 in July 1980. In 1981, he reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon before losing in five sets to Jimmy Connors after being up 2-0. He beat John McEnroe in the first round of Cincinnati Masters in 1984. Overall, he had five career wins over Jimmy Connors in their 11 matches.

Amritraj was part of the Indian Davis Cup team that reached the finals in 1974 and 1987. Amritraj had a career singles win-loss record 384-296, winning 16 singles and 13 doubles titles.

Acting career

Amritraj also had a brief acting career. His most notable appearance is probably as the MI6 agent Vijay in the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy. He also appeared briefly in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) as a starship captain.

He was also a regular character in the NBC TV series The Last Precinct and the Yakov Smirnoff comedy What a Country, as well as a guest star on various television shows such as Hart to Hart. He has since gone on to become a sports commentator, has been a judge at the Miss Universe pageant and has developed a successful multimedia business. Amritraj is the host of a talk show named Dimensions with Vijay Amritraj telecast on CNN-IBN.

Personal life

Amritraj lives in California with wife Shyamala, who is Sri Lankan Tamil, and sons Prakash Amritraj and Vikram. His son Prakash Amritraj and nephew Stephen Amritraj are also professional tennis players. On 9 February 2001, Vijay Amritraj was appointed a United Nations ambassador for peace. He has been raising awareness on the issues of drugs and HIV/AIDS and in raising funds to fight the spread of AIDS worldwide. Vijay Amritraj founded The Vijay Amritraj Foundation in 2006.

Career finals

Singles: 25 (18-7)

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP Tour (12)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. 23 July 1973 Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA Clay Jimmy Connors 7-5, 2-6, 7-5
Runner-up 1. 20 August 1973 South Orange, New Jersey, USA Grass Colin Dibley 4-6, 7-6, 4-6
Winner 2. 21 October 1973 New Delhi, India Mal Anderson 6-4, 5-7, 8-9, 6-3, 11-9
Runner-up 2. 27 March 1974 Tempe, Arizona, USA Hard Jimmy Connors 1-6, 2-6
Winner 3. 7 April 1974 Washington DC, USA Karl Meiler 6-4, 6-3
Winner 4. 10 June 1974 Beckenham, England Grass Tom Gorman 6-7, 6-2, 6-4
Winner 5. 18 August 1975 Columbus, Ohio, USA Hard Robert Lutz 6-4, 7-5
Winner 6. 17 November 1975 Calcutta, India Clay Manuel Orantes 7-5, 6-3
Winner 7. 9 March 1976 Memphis, Tennessee, USA Carpet (i) Stan Smith 6-2, 0-6, 6-0
Winner 8. 16 September 1976 Newport, Rhode Island, USA Grass Brian Teacher 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
Winner 9. 10 January 1977 Auckland, New Zealand Grass Tim Wilkison 7-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
Winner 10. 28 November 1977 Bombay, India Clay Terry Moor 7-6, 6-4
Winner 11. 25 September 1978 Mexico City, Mexico Clay Raúl Ramírez 6-4, 6-4
Runner-up 3. 30 October 1978 Cologne, Germany Hard (i) Wojtek Fibak 2-6, 1-0 ret.
Winner 12. 19 November 1979 Bombay, India Clay Peter Elter 6-1, 7-5
Runner-up 4. 19 February 1980 WCT Invitational, Maryland, USA Carpet (i) Björn Borg 5-7, 1-6, 3-6
Runner-up 5. 24 March 1980 Milan, Italy Carpet (i) John McEnroe 2-6, 4-6
Winner 13. 7 July 1980 Newport, Rhode Island, USA Grass Andrew Pattison 6-1, 5-7, 6-3
Winner 14. 17 November 1980 Bangkok, Thailand Carpet (i) Brian Teacher 6-3, 7-5
Runner-up 6. 9 December 1980 WCT Challenge Cup, Canada Carpet (i) John McEnroe 1-6, 6-2, 1-6
Runner-up 7. 15 August 1983 Stowe, Vermont, USA Hard John Fitzgerald 6-3, 2-6, 5-7
Winner 15. 14 May 1984 Spring, Texas, USA Hard (i) Leif Shiras 7-5, 4-6 7-6
Winner 16. 9 July 1984 Newport, Rhode Island, USA Grass Tim Mayotte 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
Winner 17. 16 June 1986 Bristol, England Grass Henri Leconte 7-6, 1-6, 8-6
Winner 18. 15 August 1988 New Haven, Connecticut, USA Hard Zeeshan Ali 6-3, 6-1

Doubles: 29 (14-15)

Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 1. 21 October 1973 New Delhi, India Anand Amritraj Jim McManus
Raúl Ramírez
2-6, 4-6
Winner 1. 16 November 1974 Bombay, India Clay Anand Amritraj Dick Crealy
Onny Parun
6-4, 7-6
Runner-up 2. 19 August 1974 South Orange, New Jersey, USA Hard Anand Amritraj Brian Gottfried
Raúl Ramírez
6-7, 7-6, 6-7
Winner 2. 19 August 1974 Columbus, Ohio, USA Hard Anand Amritraj Tom Gorman
Robert Lutz
Runner-up 3. 10 February 1975 Toronto, Canada Carpet (i) Anand Amritraj Dick Stockton
Erik Van Dillen
4-6, 5-7, 1-6
Runner-up 4. 10 March 1975 Washington DC, USA Carpet (i) Anand Amritraj Mike Estep
Russell Simpson
6-75, 3-6
Winner 3. 24 March 1975 Atlanta, Georgia, USA Carpet (i) Anand Amritraj Mark Cox
Cliff Drysdale
6-3, 6-2
Runner-up 5. 5 August 1975 Louisville, Kentucky, USA Clay Anand Amritraj Wojtek Fibak
Guillermo Vilas
Winner 4. 15 September 1975 Los Angeles, California, USA Hard Anand Amritraj Cliff Drysdale
Marty Riessen
7-6, 4-6, 6-4
Runner-up 6. 17 November 1975 Calcutta, India Clay Anand Amritraj Juan Gisbert
Manuel Orantes
6-1, 4-6, 3-6
Winner 5. 9 March 1976 Memphis, Tennessee, USA Carpet (i) Anand Amritraj Roscoe Tanner
Marty Riessen
6-3, 6-4
Runner-up 7. 14 March 1977 St. Louis, Missouri, USA Carpet (i) Dick Stockton Ilie Năstase
Adriano Panatta
4-6, 6-3, 6-76
Runner-up 8. 21 March 1977 Rotterdam, Netherlands Carpet (i) Dick Stockton Wojtek Fibak
Tom Okker
4-6, 4-6
Winner 6. 4 May 1977 Masters Doubles WCT, New York, USA Carpet (i) Dick Stockton Vitas Gerulaitis
Adriano Panatta
7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3
Winner 7. 13 June 1977 Queen's Club, London, England Grass Anand Amritraj David Lloyd
John Lloyd
6-1, 6-2
Winner 8. 25 September 1978 Mexico City, Mexico Clay Anand Amritraj Fred McNair
Raúl Ramírez
6-4, 7-5
Runner-up 9. 9 April 1979 Cairo, Egypt Clay Anand Amritraj Peter McNamara
Paul McNamee
5-7, 4-6
Runner-up 10. 23 July 1979 Louisville, Kentucky Hard Raúl Ramírez Marty Riessen
Sherwood Stewart
2-6, 6-1, 1-6
Runner-up 11. 15 October 1979 Sydney, Australia Hard Pat Dupre Rod Frawley
Francisco González
Winner 9. 10 March 1980 Rotterdam, Netherlands Carpet (i) Stan Smith Bill Scanlon
Brian Teacher
6-4, 6-3
Winner 10. 17 March 1980 Frankfurt, Germany Carpet (i) Stan Smith Andrew Pattison
Butch Walts
6-7, 6-2, 6-2
Runner-up 12. 3 August 1981 Columbus, Ohio, USA Hard Anand Amritraj Bruce Manson
Brian Teacher
1-6, 1-6
Runner-up 13. 1 November 1982 Baltimore, Maryland, USA Carpet (i) Fred Stolle Anand Amritraj
Tony Giammalva
5-7, 2-6
Winner 11. 30 November 1982 Chicago, Illinois, USA Carpet (i) Anand Amritraj Mike Cahill
Bruce Manson
3-6, 6-3, 6-3
Winner 12. 21 February 1983 Kuwait City, Kuwait Hard Ilie Năstase Broderick Dyke
Rod Frawley
6-3, 3-6, 6-2
Winner 13. 4 July 1983 Newport, Rhode Island, USA Grass John Fitzgerald Tim Gullikson
Tom Gullikson
6-3, 6-4
Runner-up 14. 1 August 1983 Columbus, Ohio, USA Hard John Fitzgerald Scott Davis
Brian Teacher
1-6, 6-4, 6-7
Runner-up 15. 29 October 1984 Stockholm, Sweden Hard Ilie Năstase Henri Leconte
Tomáš Šmíd
6-3, 6-7, 4-6
Winner 14. 7 July 1986 Newport, Rhode Island, USA Grass Tim Wilkison Eddie Edwards
Francisco González
4-6, 7-5, 7-6

[ Source: Wikipedia ]


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