Indian tennis legends, Leander Paes and Vijay Amritraj, the heroes of many a historic triumph transcending generations, became the first men from Asia to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Paes, 51, whose list of achievements include the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games men’s singles bronze, eight men’s doubles and 10 mixed doubles Grand Slam crowns, besides several famed Davis Cup victories, was given the rare honour in the ‘Player Category’.
Vijay Amritraj, 70, reached the men’s singles quarterfinals at the Wimbledon and US Open twice each besides guiding India to the Davis Cup finals twice - in 1974 and 1987. At his peak, he was ranked No.18 in the world in singles and No. 23 in doubles. He and Richard Evans were inducted into the Hall of Fame in the ‘Contributor Category’.
“The three inductees brings the total to 267 legends from 28 nations represented in the Hall of Fame,” said the International Tennis Hall of Fame statement. Paes spent 37 weeks at No. 1 in the world rankings in doubles, and won 54 doubles titles on tour. He is one of only three men in tennis history to capture a career Grand Slam in both disciplines. Paes, who hails from Kolkata, competed in seven straight Olympic Games between Barcelona, 1992 to Rio, 2016, the most in tennis history.
