| Born | 3 October 1993 Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Plays | right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Prithvi Sekhar (born 3 October 1993) is an Indian male deaf tennis player. [1] [2] [3] He represented India at the Deaflympics in 2013 and 2017. [4] He won a bronze medal in the mixed doubles at the 2017 Summer Deaflympics partnering with Jafreen Shaik. [5] [6] [7] He is also currently employed in the Integrated Coach Factory in Chennai.
Prithvi started playing tennis from 2002 when he was just eight years old. He was actually left with two options either to choose cricket or tennis at the age of eight and he decided to choose the latter. He idolised tennis icons Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. [8]
He went on to represent India at the 2013 Summer Deaflympics which was also his first Deaflympic appearance, but he did not win a medal. It was through his mother he managed to get to know about a tournament like Deaflympics of its stature. He was sent by his mother to take part in the national trials in 2013 which was held in Aurangabad where he proved his worth by claiming gold medals in both men's singles and men's doubles. Due to his notable performances, he was selected to the Indian contingent for 2013 Summer Deaflympics. [8]
Prithvi was selected to compete for India at the 2017 Summer Deaflympics as India sent a delegation consisting of 46 participants for the multi-sport event. [9] Prithvi Sekhar along with Jafreen Shaik claimed a historical bronze medal in the mixed doubles at the 2017 Summer Deaflympics, marking India's first ever Deaflympic medal in tennis. [10] [11] [12]
He then became a prolific tennis player despite being deaf, improving his ratings in the ATP singles and doubles to be among the top ten deaf players. [13] His first breakthrough in professional tennis circuit eventually came in May 2018 when he scored his first ATP point by winning a match at the International Tennis Federation World Tennis Tour which was held in China. [14]
He won the men's singles world title at the 2019 World Deaf Tennis Championships after defeating Czech Republic's Jaroslav Smedek 6–4, 6–3 in straight sets in the men's final. [14] [15] He came into the 2019 World Deaf Tennis Championships unseeded. However, he defied the odds defeating four seeded players including top seed world no 1. Gabor Mathe of Hungary and then beating third seed Jaroslav Smedek in the final to claim his first world title. [8] He also secured bronze medal in men's doubles event at 2019 World Championships. [16]
He was also part of the Indian Railways team which claimed gold medal in the World Tennis Railway Championships in 2019 which was held in Bulgaria. [16]
He made his second Deaflympic appearance during the 2021 Summer Deaflympics (held in May 2022) representing India and he claimed three medals in the competition. During the 2021 Summer Deaflympics, he teamed up with Dhananjay Dubey to claim silver in men's doubles event whereas he collaborated with Jafreen Shaikh to clinch bronze in mixed doubles. [17] [18] He also secured a bronze in men's singles event to increase his personal medal tally to three during the multi-sport event. [19]
Rajeev Ram is an American professional tennis player who is a former World no. 1 in doubles. Ram is a six-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2020 Australian Open, the 2021 US Open, the 2022 US Open, and the 2023 US Open in men's doubles with Joe Salisbury, as well as Australian Open mixed doubles titles in 2019 and 2021 alongside Barbora Krejčíková. Ram also won two silver medals, in mixed doubles with Venus Williams at the 2016 Olympics, and in doubles with Austin Krajicek at the 2024 Olympics.
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Leander Adrian Paes is an Indian former professional tennis player. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players of all-time and holds the record for the most doubles wins in the Davis Cup. Paes won eight men's doubles and ten mixed doubles Grand Slam titles. He made a total of 34 Grand Slam finals across men's and mixed doubles in his career which is the joint 2nd highest of all-time among men. He holds a career Grand Slam in men's doubles and mixed doubles making him one of only three men in the Open era to achieve this distinction and won the rare men's/mixed double at the 1999 Wimbledon Championships. Paes, together with Mahesh Bhupathi, were the first pair in Open era history to reach the men's doubles finals of all 4 Grand Slams in the same calendar year (1999).
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Shaik Jafreen is a deaf Indian tennis player. She represented India at the Deaflympics in 2013 and 2017. She claimed a bronze medal in the mixed doubles at the 2017 Summer Deaflympics partnering with Prithvi Sekhar.
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