Vijay Amritraj

Vijay Amritraj (Tamil pronunciation: [ˈʋɪdʒaɪ̯ amrit̪ˌɾaːdʒ]; born 14 December 1953) is an Indian sports commentator, actor and retired professional tennis player from Madras.^[3][4][5][6] He was awarded the Padma Shri, the government of India's fourth-highest civilian honour, in 1983.^[7][8]

Vijay Amritraj

Amritraj in 2017
Country (sports)	India
Residence	Southern California, U.S.
Born	(1953-12-14) 14 December 1953 (age 71) 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)

In 2022, he was honored for his contributions to tennis in London by the International Tennis Hall of Fame and International Tennis Federation.^[9] On July 20, 2024 he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.^[10]

Vijay Amritraj partnering brother Anand at the 2000 Wimbledon Championships

Early life

Vijay was born in Madras,^[11] India to a Tamil Christian Nadar family consisting of parents Maggie Dhairyam and Robert Amritraj, ^[12][13]and brothers Anand Amritraj and Ashok Amritraj, who were also international tennis players.^[14]

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.^[15] At Wimbledon, he lost in five sets^[16] 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.^[17]

Amritraj beat Björn Borg in the second round in the US Open in 1974, losing to Rosewall in quarterfinals.^[18][19] 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.^[20] 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.^[21] 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.^[22]

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.^[23]

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.^[24] He also appeared briefly in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) as starship captain Joel Randolph.^[25]

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.^[26] 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.^[27][28][29]

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.^[30]

He founded The Vijay Amritraj Foundation in 2006.^[31][32]

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	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