At the beginning of the 70s, for one a part of the globe India was Bachchan; for the remainder, presumably the extra influential tennis-playing West, it was Vijay Amritraj. India’s first skilled athlete and nation’s distinguished ambassador overseas obtained tennis immortality this week. A participant with no Grand Slams and highest rating of World No.18, Vijay was this yr’s standard entry into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Hidden within the official announcement’s heart-felt reward was the explanations for the selection. “The Hall of Fame is not just about counting trophies … These aren’t just great players, these are the greatest players. The most impactful contributors our sport has ever known … This is not the end of an international career, it is the beginning of tennis immortality for those incredible champions who were, who are and who forever will be the sport of tennis.”

Tennis Legend Vijay Amritraj throughout Idea Exchange at The Indian Express, Mumbai. (Express photograph by Nirmal Harindran)

For the generations that really feel that tennis began with Federer vs Nadal on the flip of the century and no Indian within the singles draw is a tennis norm, the Vijay story must be retold. Google can get you statistics however not the stature of the one-of-a-kind Indian sporting stalwart who enhanced the nation’s picture overseas.

Much earlier than “Incredible India” turned a model and “a brave new India” an aspirational political slogan; Vijay, each on and off the courtroom, was articulating to the world that there was extra to his nation than the standard snake charmers, yogis and Bleeding Madras T-shirts stereotyping.

Far forward of the period he grew up in, Vijay was the crowd-puller at Slams and a magnet at after-match events of the wealthy and well-known. He, and his brothers Anand and Ashok, didn’t must be a yogi or play sitar to get acceptance within the western world. Vijay performed their sport and performed it means higher than them. He spoke their language and was way more eloquent then them.

As a Top 20 participant he may maintain his personal towards the likes of Laver, Smith, McEnroe, Connors. His allure, wit and mind would get him entry into elite circles. As a 6″3′ broad-shouldered athlete, Vijay wasn’t the archetypal common Indian of these occasions. He and his goals have been greater than most in pre-liberalisation 70s India.

When travelling the world, Vijay didn’t carry any third-world baggage. He was mushy spoken however he did increase his voice if compelled. He was a real world citizen however remained fiercely patriotic. He was an asset to his sport however he remained dedicated to his David Cup duties. He additionally did his bit to make the tennis-loving nation, a tennis-playing nation.

For a sickly little one born with cystic fibrosis, doubtlessly a deadly lung ailment that wants fixed hospital visits, Vijay turned out to be a spectacular over-achiever. He took up tennis for the reason that physician wished him to pursue an out-door sport.

Vijay Amritraj in motion. (Express Archive)

With barely a couple of kilos of their pockets, he and his brother Anand would journey to England. It was throughout a pre-Wimbledon event in Beckenham, Vijay would spot his hero – the maverick tennis guru Pancho Gonzales. The lanky boy from Chennai would present braveness to method him. The initiative would end in a hitting session. Pancho was impressed, he invited the brothers to US tennis’ sanctum sanctorum of Sin City, Hotel Caesars at Las Vegas.

Caesars had a tennis custom and hosted a well-known large prize-money event. It had distractions too. Vijay mentions them in his guide: “It was newest, gaudiest and most luxurious place but a tennis place too … It was build to take your money and lead you off the straight and the narrow. … There was a restaurant with Julius Caesar’s statue where toga-clad waitresses with legs that go on forever slither up behind you and massage your neck after a long hard dinner.” This can be the unlikely place the place Pancho did the sport altering tweak to Vijay’s sport. He added extra energy and sting to his second serve. You didn’t must be simply fittest to outlive on the tennis circuit, you additionally needed to be smartest.

Long earlier than phrases like “hustle” and “jugaad” began getting utilized by Corporate India, the Amritrajs had aced them. On a frugal funds, the brothers had a hand-to-mouth financial mannequin. There was a time, they confronted a sequence of adversarial outcomes. “Every Monday I was out of the tournament and had the whole week free, with 5 dollars in my pocket. We literally had to win in the afternoon to be able to eat at night,” he would say.

To keep away from going hungry to mattress, Vijay got here up with a ‘hustle’ that concerned betting on Anand’s good chess taking part in abilities. Since the tournaments have been at posh golf equipment, the the big-talker Vijay would take bets from the moneyed members to beat Anand at chess. The back-up plan labored. Now, they may afford to lose at tennis since they have been successful at chess.

With time the outcomes modified and America was steadily warming as much as the tall, lanky Indian with a decent serve and volley sport. While at his peak, Vijay as soon as went on to play at one other spectacular lodge frequented by white aged Florida people. He would put on his Chennai shirts and Kolhapuri chappals to dinner, inviting stares. Opinion would change when Vijay would beat Rod Laver in earlier rounds and Jimmy Connors within the ultimate.

His fluent strokes and charming smile would win hearts. “I won the tournament, and by the time I went for dinner in the evening, most of the people were trying to buy chappals to wear,” Vijay would say. But his was no feel-good film, the place sporting success makes obstacles to fall and prejudices to vanish and stereotypes to get worn out.

Later on the US Open, Vijay would defeat Laver once more. New York Times would applaud the hassle however there was a line from the report – “The incredibly poised and polite dark‐skinned Amritraj” – doesn’t learn proper in current occasions. Even revisiting his a lot talked about function within the Bond film Octupussy doesn’t really feel proper. Vijay is proven as a snake charmer and an auto driver. An secret agent, when he drives Bond via a avenue throughout a chase, the film-makers don’t miss a single Indian imagery that’s objectionable. There have been cows, camels, fire-eaters, sword swallowers, a yogi on a mattress of nails, beggars and at last the natives combating for money thrown at them by a white man.

With time, India’s picture would change. That had loads to do with Bond’s auto-driver on display who in actual life would go to be a Hollywood producer, a broadcasting icon, UN ambassador for peace and now a Hall of Famer.