| Vijay Amritraj | |
| Birth Date: | 1953 12, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Madras, Madras State, India |
| Residence: | Southern California, U.S. |
| Turnedpro: | 1970 |
| Retired: | 1993 |
| Plays: | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Careerprizemoney: | $1,331,913 |
| Singlesrecord: | 399–308[1] |
| Singlestitles: | 15[2] |
| Highestsinglesranking: | No. 18 (7 July 1980) |
| Australianopenresult: | 2R (1984) |
| Frenchopenresult: | 3R (1974) |
| Wimbledonresult: | QF (1973, 1981) |
| Usopenresult: | QF (1973, 1974) |
| Othertournaments: | yes |
| Wctfinalsresult: | SF (1982) |
| Doublesrecord: | 264–218 |
| Doublestitles: | 14 |
| Highestdoublesranking: | No. 23 (24 March 1980) |
| Wimbledondoublesresult: | SF (1976) |
| Usopendoublesresult: | QF (1973, 1976) |
| Team: | yes |
| Daviscupresult: | F (1974, 1987) |
Vijay Amritraj (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 4th highest civilian honour, in 1983.[7] [8] 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 was born in Madras,[11] India to Maggie Dhairyam and Robert Amritraj.[12] [13] He has two brothers, Anand Amritraj and Ashok Amritraj, who were also international tennis players.[14]
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. Amritraj had a career singles win–loss record 405–312, winning 15 singles and 13 doubles titles.[23]
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 (1986) as an unnamed starship captain.[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. 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.
Amritraj lives in Southern California with his wife Shymala and sons Prakash Amritraj and Vikram.[26] [27] [28]
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.[29]
He founded The Vijay Amritraj Foundation in 2006.[30] [31]
| Film | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
| 1983 | Octopussy | Vijay | ||
| 1985 | Nine Deaths of the Ninja | Rankin | ||
| 1986 | Starship Captain Joel Randolph | |||
| 2015 | Of God and Kings | Duke Bora Swain | ||
| 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 |
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Grand Slam (0) | |
| ATP Masters Series (0) | |
| ATP Tour (15) |
| Result | W/L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Rothmans Chichester, England (ATP Challenger Tour) | Grass |  Doug Crawford | 6-1, 7-6 | ||
| Win | 2–0 | Bretton Woods, U.S. | Clay | Jimmy Connors | 7–5, 2–6, 7–5 | ||
| Loss | 2–1 | South Orange, U.S. | Grass |  Colin Dibley | 4–6, 7–6, 4–6 | ||
| Win | 3–1 | New Delhi, India | Grass | Mal Anderson | 6–4, 5–7, 8–9, 6–3, 11–9 | ||
| Loss | 3–2 | Tempe, U.S. | Hard | Jimmy Connors | 1–6, 2–6 | ||
| Win | 4–2 | Washington D.C., U.S. (ATP Challenger Tour) | Carpet (i) | Karl Meiler | 6–4, 6–3 | ||
| Win | 5–2 | Beckenham, England | Grass | Tom Gorman | 6–7, 6–2, 6–4 | ||
| Win | 6–2 | Columbus, U.S. | Hard | Bob Lutz | 6–4, 7–5 | ||
| Win | 7–2 | Calcutta, India | Clay |  Manuel Orantes | 7–5, 6–3 | ||
| Win | 8–2 | Memphis, U.S. | Carpet (i) | Stan Smith | 6–2, 0–6, 6–0 | ||
| Win | 9–2 | Newport, U.S. | Grass | Brian Teacher | 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–1 | ||
| Win | 10–2 | Auckland, New Zealand | Grass | Tim Wilkison | 7–6, 5–7, 6–1, 6–2 | ||
| Win | 11–2 | Bombay, India | Clay | Terry Moor | 7–6, 6–4 | ||
| Win | 12–2 | Mexico City, Mexico | Carpet (i) |  Raúl Ramírez | 6–4, 6–4 | ||
| Loss | 12–3 | Cologne, West Germany | Hard (i) |  Wojciech Fibak | 2–6, 1–0 ret. | ||
| Win | 13–3 | Bombay, India | Clay | Peter Elter | 6–1, 7–5 | ||
| Loss | 13–4 | WCT Invitational Salisbury, U.S. | Carpet (i) |  Björn Borg | 5–7, 1–6, 3–6 | ||
| Loss | 13–5 | Milan, Italy | Carpet (i) | John McEnroe | 2–6, 4–6 | ||
| Win | 14–5 | Newport, U.S. | Grass | Andrew Pattison | 6–1, 5–7, 6–3 | ||
| Win | 15–5 | Bangkok, Thailand | Carpet (i) | Brian Teacher | 6–3, 7–5 | ||
| Loss | 15–6 | WCT Challenge Cup, Canada | Carpet (i) | John McEnroe | 1–6, 6–2, 1–6 | ||
| Loss | 15–7 | Salisbury WCT, U.S. | Carpet (i) | Bill Scanlon | 6-3, 2-2, 4-6, 6-3, 4-6 | ||
| Loss | 15–8 | Stowe, U.S. | Hard | John Fitzgerald | 6–3, 2–6, 5–7 | ||
| Win | 16–8 | Spring, Texas, U.S. (ATP Challenger Tour) | Hard (i) | Leif Shiras | 7–5, 4–6 7–6 | ||
| Win | 17–8 | Newport, U.S. | Grass | Tim Mayotte | 3–6, 6–4, 6–4 | ||
| Win | 18–8 | Bristol, England | Grass |  Henri Leconte | 7–6, 1–6, 8–6 | ||
| Win | 19–8 | New Haven, U.S. (ATP Challenger Tour) | Hard |  Zeeshan Ali | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Result | W/L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | New Delhi, India | Anand Amritraj | Jim McManus Raúl Ramírez | 2–6, 4–6 | |||
| Win | 1–1 | Bombay, India | Clay | Anand Amritraj | Dick Crealy  Onny Parun | 6–4, 7–6 | ||
| Loss | 1–2 | South Orange, U.S. | Hard | Anand Amritraj | Brian Gottfried Raúl Ramírez | 6–7, 7–6, 6–7 | ||
| Win | 2–2 | Columbus, U.S. | Hard | Anand Amritraj | Tom Gorman Bob Lutz | walkover | ||
| Loss | 2–3 | Toronto, Canada | Carpet (i) | Anand Amritraj | Dick Stockton Erik van Dillen | 4–6, 5–7, 1–6 | ||
| Loss | 2–4 | Washington D.C., U.S. | Carpet (i) | Anand Amritraj | Mike Estep Jeff Simpson | 6–75, 3–6 | ||
| Win | 3–4 | Atlanta, U.S. | Carpet (i) | Anand Amritraj |  Mark Cox Cliff Drysdale | 6–3, 6–2 | ||
| Loss | 3–5 | Louisville, U.S. | Clay | Anand Amritraj | Wojciech Fibak  Guillermo Vilas | (not played) | ||
| Win | 4–5 | Los Angeles, U.S. | Hard | Anand Amritraj | Cliff Drysdale Marty Riessen | 7–6, 4–6, 6–4 | ||
| Loss | 4–6 | Calcutta, India | Clay | Anand Amritraj | Juan Gisbert Manuel Orantes | 6–1, 4–6, 3–6 | ||
| Win | 5–6 | Memphis, U.S. | Carpet (i) | Anand Amritraj | Roscoe Tanner Marty Riessen | 6–3, 6–4 | ||
| Loss | 5–7 | St. Louis, U.S. | Carpet (i) | Dick Stockton | Ilie Năstase  Adriano Panatta | 4–6, 6–3, 6–76 | ||
| Loss | 5–8 | Rotterdam, Netherlands | Carpet (i) | Dick Stockton | Wojciech Fibak Tom Okker | 4–6, 4–6 | ||
| Win | 6–8 | Masters Doubles WCT, U.S. | Carpet (i) | Dick Stockton | Vitas Gerulaitis Adriano Panatta | 7–6, 7–6, 4–6, 6–3 | ||
| Win | 7–8 | London, England | Grass | Anand Amritraj | David Lloyd John Lloyd | 6–1, 6–2 | ||
| Win | 8–8 | Mexico City, Mexico | Carpet (i) | Anand Amritraj | Fred McNair Raúl Ramírez | 6–4, 7–5 | ||
| Loss | 8–9 | Cairo, Egypt | Clay | Anand Amritraj | Peter McNamara Paul McNamee | 5–7, 4–6 | ||
| Loss | 8–10 | Louisville, U.S. | Hard | Raúl Ramírez | Marty Riessen Sherwood Stewart | 2–6, 6–1, 1–6 | ||
| Loss | 8–11 | Sydney, Australia | Hard | Pat DuPré | Rod Frawley Francisco González | walkover | ||
| Win | 9–11 | Rotterdam, Netherlands | Carpet (i) | Stan Smith | Bill Scanlon Brian Teacher | 6–4, 6–3 | ||
| Win | 10–11 | Frankfurt, West Germany | Carpet (i) | Stan Smith | Andrew Pattison Butch Walts | 6–7, 6–2, 6–2 | ||
| Loss | 10–12 | Columbus, U.S. | Hard | Anand Amritraj | Bruce Manson Brian Teacher | 1–6, 1–6 | ||
| Loss | 10–13 | Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | Carpet (i) | Fred Stolle | Anand Amritraj Tony Giammalva | 5–7, 2–6 | ||
| Win | 11–13 | Chicago, U.S. | Carpet (i) | Anand Amritraj | Mike Cahill Bruce Manson | 3–6, 6–3, 6–3 | ||
| Win | 12–13 | Kuwait City, Kuwait (ATP Challenger Tour) | Hard | Ilie Năstase | Broderick Dyke Rod Frawley | 6–3, 3–6, 6–2 | ||
| Win | 13–13 | Newport, U.S. | Grass | John Fitzgerald | Tim Gullikson Tom Gullikson | 6–3, 6–4 | ||
| Loss | 13–14 | Columbus, U.S. | Hard | John Fitzgerald | Scott Davis Brian Teacher | 1–6, 6–4, 6–7 | ||
| Loss | 13–15 | Stockholm, Sweden | Hard (i) | Ilie Năstase | Henri Leconte Tomáš Šmíd | 6–3, 6–7, 4–6 | ||
| Win | 14–15 | Newport, U.S. | Grass | Tim Wilkison | Eddie Edwards Francisco González | 4–6, 7–5, 7–6 |