Age: 70
Vijay Amritraj
Age: 70
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.
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 |