Vijay Amritraj

Vijay Amritraj

Amritraj in 2017
Country (sports)	India
Residence	Southern California, U.S.
Born	(1953-12-14) 14 December 1953 (age 72) Madras, Madras State, India
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Turned pro	1970
Retired	1993
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$1,331,913
Singles
Career record	399–308 [1]
Career titles	15 [2]
Highest ranking	No. 18 (7 July 1980)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	2R (1984)
French Open	3R (1974)
Wimbledon	QF (1973, 1981)
US Open	QF (1973, 1974)
Other tournaments
WCT Finals	SF (1982)
Doubles
Career record	264–218
Career titles	14
Highest ranking	No. 23 (24 March 1980)
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon	SF (1976)
US Open	QF (1973, 1976)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	F (1974, 1987)

Vijay Amritraj (Tamil pronunciation: [ˈʋɪdʒaɪamrit̪ˈɾaːdʒ] ; born 14 December 1953) is an Indian retired professional tennis player, sports commentator and actor from Madras. ^{[3] [4] [5] [6]} He was awarded the Padma Shri (India's fourth-highest civilian honour), in 1983, and the Padma Bhushan (India's third-highest civilian honour) in 2026. ^{[7] [8] [9]} In 2022, he was honored for his contributions to tennis in London by the International Tennis Hall of Fame and International Tennis Federation. ^[10] On July 20, 2024 he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. ^[11]

Vijay Amritraj partnering brother Anand at the 2000 Wimbledon Championships

Early life

Vijay was born in Madras, ^[12] India to a Tamil Christian Nadar family consisting of parents Maggie Dhairyam and Robert Amritraj, ^{[13] [14]} and brothers Anand Amritraj and Ashok Amritraj, who were also international tennis players. ^[15]

Career

After playing his first Grand Prix event in 1970, Amritraj achieved his first success in singles in 1973 when he reached the quarterfinals at two Grand Slam events. ^[16] At Wimbledon, he lost in five sets ^[17] 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. ^[18]

Amritraj beat Björn Borg in the second round in the US Open in 1974, losing to Rosewall in quarterfinals. ^{[19] [20]} 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. ^[21] 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. ^[22] 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. ^[23]

Amritraj was part of the India Davis Cup team that reached the finals in 1974 and 1987.^{[ citation needed ]} Amritraj had a career singles win–loss record 405–312, winning 15 singles and 13 doubles titles. ^[24]

Acting career

Amritraj has also pursued an acting career. His best known role is probably as the MI6 intelligence operative Vijay in the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy . ^[25] He also appeared briefly in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) as starship captain Joel Randolph. ^[26]

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 . ^[27] He has since gone on to become a sports commentator, has been a judge at the Miss Universe pageant, and has developed a multimedia business. Amritraj also hosts a talk show named Dimensions with Vijay Amritraj broadcast on CNN-IBN.^{[ citation needed ]}

Personal life

Amritraj lives in Southern California with his wife Shymala and sons Prakash Amritraj and Vikram. ^{[28] [29] [30]}

Prakash and his paternal cousin Stephen Amritraj are also professional tennis players.

On 9 February 2001, Vijay was appointed a United Nations Messenger of Peace. He has been raising awareness on the issues of drugs and HIV/AIDS and has raised funds to fight the spread of AIDS worldwide. ^[31]

He founded The Vijay Amritraj Foundation in 2006. ^{[32] [33]}

Filmography

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Octopussy	Vijay
1985	Nine Deaths of the Ninja	Rankin
1986	Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home	Starship Captain Joel Randolph
2015	Of God and Kings	Duke Bora Swain

Career statistics

Singles performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

P#

DNQ

A

Z#

PO

G

S

B

NMS

NTI

P

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Tournament	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	SR
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	2R	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 2
French Open	A	A	3R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 1
Wimbledon	2R	QF	2R	2R	2R	2R	2R	2R	1R	QF	3R	1R	1R	4R	1R	2R	A	A	1R	0 / 17
US Open	1R	QF	QF	2R	1R	1R	1R	2R	3R	3R	A	A	2R	1R	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 12

Career finals

Singles: 27 (19–8)

Legend
Grand Slam (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP Tour (15)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Jun 1973	Rothmans Chichester, England (ATP Challenger Tour)	Grass	Doug Crawford	6-1, 7-6
Win	2–0	Jul 1973	Volvo International Bretton Woods, U.S.	Clay	Jimmy Connors	7–5, 2–6, 7–5
Loss	2–1	Aug 1973	South Orange, U.S.	Grass	Colin Dibley	4–6, 7–6, 4–6
Win	3–1	Oct 1973	New Delhi, India	Grass	Mal Anderson	6–4, 5–7, 8–9, 6–3, 11–9
Loss	3–2	Mar 1974	Tempe, U.S.	Hard	Jimmy Connors	1–6, 2–6
Win	4–2	Apr 1974	Washington D.C., U.S. (ATP Challenger Tour)	Carpet (i)	Karl Meiler	6–4, 6–3
Win	5–2	Jun 1974	Beckenham, England	Grass	Tom Gorman	6–7, 6–2, 6–4
Win	6–2	Aug 1975	Columbus, U.S.	Hard	Bob Lutz	6–4, 7–5
Win	7–2	Nov 1975	Calcutta, India	Clay	Manuel Orantes	7–5, 6–3
Win	8–2	Mar 1976	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Stan Smith	6–2, 0–6, 6–0
Win	9–2	Sep 1976	Newport, U.S.	Grass	Brian Teacher	6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–1
Win	10–2	Jan 1977	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Tim Wilkison	7–6, 5–7, 6–1, 6–2
Win	11–2	Nov 1977	Bombay, India	Clay	Terry Moor	7–6, 6–4
Win	12–2	Sep 1978	Mexico City, Mexico	Carpet (i)	Raúl Ramírez	6–4, 6–4
Loss	12–3	Oct 1978	Cologne, West Germany	Hard (i)	Wojciech Fibak	2–6, 1–0 ret.
Win	13–3	Nov 1979	Bombay, India	Clay	Peter Elter	6–1, 7–5
Loss	13–4	Feb 1980	WCT Invitational Salisbury, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Björn Borg	5–7, 1–6, 3–6
Loss	13–5	Mar 1980	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	John McEnroe	2–6, 4–6
Win	14–5	Jul 1980	Newport, U.S.	Grass	Andrew Pattison	6–1, 5–7, 6–3
Win	15–5	Nov 1980	Bangkok, Thailand	Carpet (i)	Brian Teacher	6–3, 7–5
Loss	15–6	Dec 1980	WCT Challenge Cup, Canada	Carpet (i)	John McEnroe	1–6, 6–2, 1–6
Loss	15–7	Mar 1981	Salisbury WCT, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Bill Scanlon	6-3, 2-2, 4-6, 6-3, 4-6
Loss	15–8	Aug 1983	Stowe, U.S.	Hard	John Fitzgerald	6–3, 2–6, 5–7
Win	16–8	May 1984	Spring, Texas, U.S. (ATP Challenger Tour)	Hard (i)	Leif Shiras	7–5, 4–6 7–6
Win	17–8	Jul 1984	Newport, U.S.	Grass	Tim Mayotte	3–6, 6–4, 6–4
Win	18–8	Jun 1986	Bristol, England	Grass	Henri Leconte	7–6, 1–6, 8–6
Win	19–8	Aug 1988	New Haven, U.S. (ATP Challenger Tour)	Hard	Zeeshan Ali	6–3, 6–1

Doubles: 29 (14–15)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Oct 1973	New Delhi, India		Anand Amritraj	Jim McManus Raúl Ramírez	2–6, 4–6
Win	1–1	Nov 1974	Bombay, India	Clay	Anand Amritraj	Dick Crealy Onny Parun	6–4, 7–6
Loss	1–2	Aug 1974	South Orange, U.S.	Hard	Anand Amritraj	Brian Gottfried Raúl Ramírez	6–7, 7–6, 6–7
Win	2–2	Aug 1974	Columbus, U.S.	Hard	Anand Amritraj	Tom Gorman Bob Lutz	walkover
Loss	2–3	Feb 1975	Toronto, Canada	Carpet (i)	Anand Amritraj	Dick Stockton Erik van Dillen	4–6, 5–7, 1–6
Loss	2–4	Mar 1975	Washington D.C., U.S.	Carpet (i)	Anand Amritraj	Mike Estep Jeff Simpson	6–75, 3–6
Win	3–4	Mar 1975	Atlanta, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Anand Amritraj	Mark Cox Cliff Drysdale	6–3, 6–2
Loss	3–5	Aug 1975	Louisville, U.S.	Clay	Anand Amritraj	Wojciech Fibak Guillermo Vilas	(not played)
Win	4–5	Sep 1975	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Anand Amritraj	Cliff Drysdale Marty Riessen	7–6, 4–6, 6–4
Loss	4–6	Nov 1975	Calcutta, India	Clay	Anand Amritraj	Juan Gisbert Manuel Orantes	6–1, 4–6, 3–6
Win	5–6	Mar 1976	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Anand Amritraj	Roscoe Tanner Marty Riessen	6–3, 6–4
Loss	5–7	Mar 1977	St. Louis, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Dick Stockton	Ilie Năstase Adriano Panatta	4–6, 6–3, 6–76
Loss	5–8	Mar 1977	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet (i)	Dick Stockton	Wojciech Fibak Tom Okker	4–6, 4–6
Win	6–8	May 1977	Masters Doubles WCT, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Dick Stockton	Vitas Gerulaitis Adriano Panatta	7–6, 7–6, 4–6, 6–3
Win	7–8	Jun 1977	London, England	Grass	Anand Amritraj	David Lloyd John Lloyd	6–1, 6–2
Win	8–8	Sep 1978	Mexico City, Mexico	Carpet (i)	Anand Amritraj	Fred McNair Raúl Ramírez	6–4, 7–5
Loss	8–9	Apr 1979	Cairo, Egypt	Clay	Anand Amritraj	Peter McNamara Paul McNamee	5–7, 4–6
Loss	8–10	Jul 1979	Louisville, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Marty Riessen Sherwood Stewart	2–6, 6–1, 1–6
Loss	8–11	Oct 1979	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Pat DuPré	Rod Frawley Francisco González	walkover
Win	9–11	Mar 1980	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet (i)	Stan Smith	Bill Scanlon Brian Teacher	6–4, 6–3
Win	10–11	Mar 1980	Frankfurt, West Germany	Carpet (i)	Stan Smith	Andrew Pattison Butch Walts	6–7, 6–2, 6–2
Loss	10–12	Aug 1981	Columbus, U.S.	Hard	Anand Amritraj	Bruce Manson Brian Teacher	1–6, 1–6
Loss	10–13	Nov 1982	Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Fred Stolle	Anand Amritraj Tony Giammalva	5–7, 2–6
Win	11–13	Nov 1982	Chicago, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Anand Amritraj	Mike Cahill Bruce Manson	3–6, 6–3, 6–3
Win	12–13	Feb 1983	Kuwait City, Kuwait (ATP Challenger Tour)	Hard	Ilie Năstase	Broderick Dyke Rod Frawley	6–3, 3–6, 6–2
Win	13–13	Jul 1983	Newport, U.S.	Grass	John Fitzgerald	Tim Gullikson Tom Gullikson	6–3, 6–4
Loss	13–14	Aug 1983	Columbus, U.S.	Hard	John Fitzgerald	Scott Davis Brian Teacher	1–6, 6–4, 6–7
Loss	13–15	Oct 1984	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Ilie Năstase	Henri Leconte Tomáš Šmíd	6–3, 6–7, 4–6
Win	14–15	Jul 1986	Newport, U.S.	Grass	Tim Wilkison	Eddie Edwards Francisco González	4–6, 7–5, 7–6

References

1. Vijay Amritraj Archived 5 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine at the Association of Tennis Professionals
2. webarchive ATP Tour 2009
3. Andrew McNicol (11 May 2018). "From James Bond cameo to biopic on his extraordinary life: tennis legend Vijay Amritraj to serve up another smash hit". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
4. "Tennis legend Vijay Amritraj biopic in works". New Indian Express. 17 September 2017. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
5. Dhananjay Roy (28 February 2018). "Sports champions say a big thank you to Mahindra Scorpio TOISA". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 18 April 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
6. Lisa Dillman (2 August 1987). "TENNIS DIPLOMAT : Vijay Amritraj Helps Pave the Way for Israel's Davis Cup Team to Play in India Despite Terrorist Threats". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 14 December 2023. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
7. "Padma Awards Directory (1954–2014)" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs (India). 21 May 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 February 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
8. "Top Male Tennis Players of India through History". Times of India. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
10. "Vijay Amritraj honoured with Golden Achievement Award by ITF". The Hindu. June 2022. Archived from the original on 5 August 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
11. "International Tennis Hall of Fame". www.tennisfame.com. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
12. "Pride of Chennai - A list of people that make Chennai proud". Itz Chennai. January 2012. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
13. "At home on every turf". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 29 July 2004. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 9 June 2007.
14. "Maggie Amritraj passes away at 92". The New Indian Express. 21 April 2019. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
15. "Mother of Amritraj brothers, Maggie, dies at 92". The Times of India. 21 April 2019. Archived from the original on 21 May 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
16. "Results Archive | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Archived from the original on 4 November 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
17. "Results | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Archived from the original on 4 November 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
18. "Results | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Archived from the original on 4 November 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
19. "Bjorn Borg VS Vijay Amritraj | Head 2 Head | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
20. "Ken Rosewall VS Vijay Amritraj | Head 2 Head | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Archived from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
21. "Results | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Archived from the original on 28 December 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
22. "Results | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
23. "Jimmy Connors VS Vijay Amritraj | Head 2 Head | H2H | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Archived from the original on 23 February 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
24. "Vijay Amritraj | FedEx ATP Win/Loss | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Archived from the original on 7 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
25. "MI6 allies". Archived from the original on 2 February 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
26. "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) - IMDb". IMDb . Archived from the original on 7 July 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
27. "Voice Of Wimbledon: Documentary On Indian Tennis Player & Actor Vijay Amritraj Is In The Works". Indiatimes. 9 July 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
28. Lidz, Franz (31 March 1986). "Tennis Player Vijay Amritraj Is as Fine on Film As He Is on the Court". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
29. "Honeymoon over for Amritraj". The Southeast Missourian. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
30. "Amritrajs' Big-Fat Wedding in Colombo". Fashion Scandal. 4 November 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
31. "Messengers of Peace". Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General. Archived from the original on 26 December 2002. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
32. "The Vijay Amritraj Foundation". Archived from the original on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
33. "Look to the Stars". Archived from the original on 2 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2015.

External links

• Vijay Amritraj at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Vijay Amritraj at the International Tennis Federation
• Vijay Amritraj at the Davis Cup (archived)
• Vijay Amritraj at IMDb

Awards
First	ATP Most Improved Player 1973	Succeeded by Guillermo Vilas