Four Indian tennis icons will be presented with Davis Cup Commitment awards instituted by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) as a part of the centenary celebrations at KSLTA on April 6.
"Four Indian tennis icons -- Ramanathan Krishnan, Ramesh Krishnan, Anand Amritraj and Mahesh Bhupathi -- will be honoured with the Davis Cup Commitment awards by former union minister and AITA lifetime president, Yashwant Sinha on April 6," Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association Secretary C S Sundar Raju told reporters here.
The criteria for selection for the awards was -- a player should have competed in a minimum of 20 home or away Davis Cup ties, said Raju.
The 76-year-old Ramanathan Krishnan had a 23-year-long career in Davis Cup from 1953, during which he competed in 44 ties for an overall win-loss record of 69-28, including 50-19 in singles.
Ramesh was a stalwart of India's Davis Cup team from 1977 to 1993, compiling a 29-21 winning record (23-19 in singles and 6-2 in doubles). He was a key member of the Indian team, which reached the Davis Cup final in 1987.
In the semi-finals against Australia, he beat John Fitzgerald in four sets in the opening singles match, and then defeated Wally Masur in straight sets -- the decisive fifth rubber -- to give India a 3-2 victory.
However, in the final against Sweden, India were defeated 5-0 with Krishnan losing two singles matches to Mats Wilander and Anders Jarryd.
