In the 1950s, when India was slowly trying to make a mark in other sports apart from cricket and hockey, there was one individual who was blazing a trail in tennis for India. Akhtar Ali first made waves when he won the junior national championship and made it to the semifinals of junior Wimbledon. In the Davis Cup, which is considered the World Cup of Tennis, he had a fantastic nine-two record in the tournament. Akhtar Ali was prolific in both singles and doubles, playing with the likes of Ramanathan Krishnan. However, on Sunday, the Tennis fraternity in India ere saddened when Akhtar Ali died at the age of 81 in Kolkata.
Following his retirement, Akhtar Ali played a major role in the development of players like Ramesh Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj, Leander Paes among others. He even guided Sania Mirza in her formative years. His son Zeeshan Ali is a former national champion and the erstwhile coach of the Indian Davis Cup team. Sania Mirza became the No.1 ranked doubles player and also became one of the best singles player to have come out of India. Leander Paes is the legend of Tennis in India and his longevity, as well his success in the doubles arena and his bronze medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics makes him the greatest ever.
Brilliance of Akhtar Ali in his students
After Akhtar Ali, it was Ramesh Krishnan and Vijay Amritraj who put India on the tennis map in the 70s. Ramesh Krishnan, the son of Ramanathan Krishnan, was a junior player in the late 1970s, he won the singles titles at both, Wimbledon and the French Open. He went on to reach three Grand Slam quarterfinals in the 1980s and was a part of the Indian team which reached the final of the Davis Cup in 1987. Krishnan also beat then-world No. 1, Mats Wilander, at the 1989 Australian Open. Ramesh emulated an achievement of his father's by winning the Wimbledon junior title in 1979. He also won the French Open junior title that year and was ranked the No. 1 junior player in the world.
Vijay Amritraj, on the other hand, achieved his first significant success in singles in 1973 when he reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and US Open. In Wimbledon,, he lost in five sets to the eventual champion Jan Kodes and at the US Open, he lost to Ken Rosewall after having beaten Rod Laver two rounds earlier.
Amritraj beat Björn Borg in the second round in the US Open in 1974 before losing to Rosewall in the quarterfinals. In 1979, he lost in the second 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 eleven matches.
"RIP Akhtar Ali Sir! Thank you for your great service to Indian tennis and for also always sharing your knowledge with so many generations of tennis players. @Zeeshantennis my heartfelt condolences to you and the family. May his soul rest in peace," tweeted former India Davis Cup player Vishal Uppal.
"One of the first times I threw up during practice was with Akhtar sir at the South club in the summer of 1999. He always gave it his best and taught us to do the same. RIP Akhtar Ali, the legend of Indian tennis," Somdev Devvarman tweeted.
