India’s journey at Wimbledon, the oldest tennis tournament in the world, began more than 50 years before Ramanathan Krishnan’s historic runs to the semifinals at the All England Club in 1960 and 1961.
In 1905, the 29th edition of The Championships, the men’s singles draw featured a certain B. Nehru who was of Indian origin but represented Great Britain. While Nehru received a bye in the first round, he gave a walk over to compatriot Robert Hough in the second for unknown reasons. He did, however, compete in the now defunct Wimbledon Plate (for players who lost in the first or second rounds) and reached the third round.
Most matches played by an Indian at Wimbledon
Sirdar Nihal Singh became the first Indian man to play at Wimbledon in 1908. He lost a close first-round contest 11-9, 6-2, 6-4 to local player Herbert Wilson Fox. He fell at the first hurdle the following year as well but this time, managed to win 6-2, 6-4 against Louis Trasenster of Belgium in the opening round of the Plate tournament, thus recording India’s first victory at the grass Major.
FILE PHOTO: Jenny Sandison (second from right). | Photo Credit: THE HINDU ARCHIVES
First Indian representation in women’s singles took place in 1929 - 45 years after the category was included at the tournament. Jenny Sandison participated at Wimbledon in singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles in 1929-30 and got two wins, both in women’s doubles event.
India’s Leela Row Dayal (in pic) beat Great Britain’s G.M. Southwell 4-6, 10-8, 6-2 in the women’s singles opening round at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships, at Wimbledon, London on June 26, 1934. | Photo Credit: THE HINDU ARCHIVES
The first main draw wins in singles were recorded by Hassan-Ali Fyzee (men, 1910) and Leela Row Dayal (women, 1934).
India’s Firsts at Wimbledon
Complete list of Indian winners at The Championships:-
| YEAR | NAME | CATEGORY | FINAL SCORE |
| 1928 | MOHAMMED SLEEM | MEN'S SINGLES (WIMBLEDON PLATE) | 6-3, 6-3 against JB GILBERT (GBR) |
| 1954 | RAMANATHAN KRISHNAN | BOYS' SINGLES | 6-2, 7-5 against ASHLEY COOPER (AUS) |
| 1979 | RAMESH KRISHNAN | BOYS' SINGLES | 6-0, 6-2 against DAVE SIEGLER (USA) |
| 1990 | LEANDER PAES | BOYS' SINGLES | 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 against MARCOS ONDRUSKA (SOUTH AFRICA) |
| 1999 | LEANDER PAES & MAHESH BHUPATHI | MEN'S DOUBLES | 6-7(10), 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4) against PAUL HAARHUIS (NED) & JARED PALMER (USA) |
| 1999 | LEANDER PAES (with USA'S LISA RAYMOND) | MIXED DOUBLES | 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 against JONAS BJORKMAN (SWE) & ANNA KOURNIKOVA (RUS) |
| 2002 | MAHESH BHUPATHI (with RUSSIA'S ELENA LIKHOVTSEVA) | MIXED DOUBLES | 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 against KEVIN ULLYETT (ZIM) & DANIELA HANTUCHOVA (SVK) |
| 2003 | LEANDER PAES (with USA's MARTINA NAVRATILOVA) | MIXED DOUBLES | 6-3, 6-3 against AND RAM (ISR) & ANASTASIA RODIONOVA (RUS) |
| 2003 | SANIA MIRZA (with RUSSIA'S ALISA KLEYBANOVA) | GIRLS' DOUBLES | 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 against KATERINA BOHMOVA (CZE) & MICHAELLA KRAJICEK (NED) |
| 2005 | MAHESH BHUPATHI (with FRANCE'S MARY PIERCE) | MIXED DOUBLES | 6-4, 6-2 against PAUL HANLEY (AUS) & TATIANA PEREBIYNIS (UKR) |
| 2010 | LEANDER PAES (with ZIMBABWE'S CARA BLACK) | MIXED DOUBLES | 6-4, 7-6(5) against WESLEY MOODIE (RSA) & LISA RAYMOND (USA) |
| 2015 | SANIA MIRZA (with SWITZERLAND'S MARTINA HINGIS) | WOMEN'S DOUBLES | 5-7, 7-6(4), 7-5 against EKATERINA MAKAROVA (RUS) & ELENA VESNINA (RUS) |
| 2015 | LEANDER PAES (with SWITZERLAND'S MARTINA HINGIS) | MIXED DOUBLES | 6-1, 6-1 against ALEXANDER PEYA (AUT) & TIMEA BABOS (HUN) |
| 2015 | SUMIT NAGAL (with VIETNAM'S LY HOANG NAM) | BOYS' DOUBLES | 7-6(4), 6-4 against REILLY OPELKA (USA) & AKIRA SANTILLAN (AUS) |
Full list of Indian players who have featured in a main draw match across the five senior categories at Wimbledon over the years:-
- Sirdar Nihal Singh
- Hassan-Ali Fyzee
- Athar-Ali Fyzee
- Lewis Deane
- Sydney Jacob
- Jagat Mohan Lal
- Cota Ramaswami
- Syed Mohammad Hadi
- David Rutnam
- Mohammed Sleem
- Jenny Sandison
- Ghaus Mohammad Khan
India’s Ghaus Mohammed Khan in action against against R.L. Riggs on the Centre Court in men’ singles quarterfinals at Wimbledon on July 3, 1939. | Photo Credit: THE HINDU ARCHIVES
- Madansinhji
- Sashi Menon
- Gaurav Misra
- Jayakumar Royappa
- Thomas Henderson Brooks
- Jasjit Singh
- Hira-Lal Soni
- Jimmy Mehta
- Sumant Misra
- Dilip Bose
- Narendra Nath
- Rita Davar
- Ramanathan Krishnan
- Naresh Kumar
- Jaidip Mukherjea
- Chiradip Mukherjea
- Leander Paes
- Mahesh Bhupathi
Leander Paes (left) and Mahesh Bhupathi (right) clinched India’s first Wimbledon title in the Open era with this victory in the men’s doubles category at the 1999 edition. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
- Bhanu Nunna
- Premjit Lall
- Akhtar Ali
- Vijay Amritraj
- Anand Amritraj
- Ashok Amritraj
- Prakash Amritraj
- Ramesh Krishnan
- Nirupama Mankad
- Nirupama Sanjeev
- Zeeshan Ali
- Mark Ferreira
- Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza (right) became the first Indian woman to win a Wimbledon title in the Open era with her victory in the women’s doubles category partnering Switzerland’s Martina Hingis in 2015. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
- Rohan Bopanna
- Purav Raja
- Somdev Devvarman
- Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan
- Prajnesh Gunneswaran
- Divij Sharan
- N. Sriram Balaji
- Vishnu Vardhan
- Yuki Bhambri
- Ankita Raina
- Ramkumar Ramanathan
(This article is based on the information provided in Anindya Dutta’s book title ‘Advantage India: The Story of Indian Tennis’ along with the year-by-year draw archives available on www.wimbledon.com)
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