espnstar.com brings to you a history of Indians at Wimbledon and how they have fared over the years.

By Chhavi Banswal

India may not yet be the powerhouse of tennis in the world but the country has some history associated with the iconic greens.

espnstar.com, gets together a snapshot of Indians and their glory moments.

The first ever Indian to make an appearance at Wimbledon was B.K Nehru as far back as 1905. But he never actually played and gave a walk-over to his opponent. It was Sardar Nihal Singh who was the first Indian to play, in 1908, but lost in the first round itself. AH Fyzee & AA Fyzee, UK based brothers then entered in 1910 only to return after a decade to make it to the pre-quarterfinals stage in 1923 and 1925.

In 1921, S.M Jacob and Mohammad Saleem made their first Wimbledon appearance while in 1925, S.M Jacob, a Briton by origin, became the first person to represent India in the quarter final stage.

In 1925, Jagat Mohan Lall joined Jacob and AH Fyzee to become the third Indian to reach the last 16. But 1939 was the breakthrough year with Ghaus Mohammad Khan reaching the quarter-finals, losing to eventual champion, Bobby Riggs. Jimmy Mehta and Sumant Misra got to the doubles quarter-finals in 1947 and 1948. During this period, Narender Nath was also a regular at Wimbledon. Ultimately in 1950, Dilip Bose became the first ever Indian player to be seeded at Wimbledon, while reaching the last 16.

And then the modern era

The modern era began with the rise of Ramanathan Krishnan. Revered as one of the greatest tennis players in India, he was also ranked amongst the top 10 in the world. In 1953, he became the first ever Indian to bag the junior Wimbledon's title. He reached the Wimbledon semi-finals twice, 1960 and 1961, a feat unparalleled by any Indian till date. In 1960 he lost to Neale Fraser 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 and in 1961 to Rod Laver 6-2, 8-6, 6-2. In 1960 and 1961 he was seeded number seven and number four at Wimbledon - the highest ever achieved by an Indian. He once beat Roy Emerson, who holds12 Grand Slam singles titles, in a Wimbledon quarter-final (6-1, 6-4, 6-4).

In 1966 and 1973, partnering Jaideep Mukherjea, Premjit Lall reached the doubles quarter-finals while Mukherjea also reached the doubles quarter-finals with Ramanathan Krishnan (1967).

However, 1969 was perhaps the most memorable year for Indian tennis. Vijay Amritraj with his debut at Wimbledon went on to become a part of the famous ABC's of tennis- Amritraj-Borg-Connors. Vijay's best chance to win the title came in 1973, when he had match point against the eventual winner, Jan Kodes. He missed an easy volley and Kodes capitalised on the error to win.

After Amritraj, it was Ramesh Krishnan who stepped on to the court in 1980. He won the juniors title in 1979 and was termed by Emerson as ‘Poetry in motion.' In 1985, Ramesh reached the third round of the men's singles, but lost to Connors. The following year, he reached the quarter-finals but lost to Yugoslavian Slobodan Zivojinovic.

Watch out for Indians at Wimbledon: Part II