Vijay Amritraj

On July 20, 2024 he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. • Illustration — Vijay Amritraj partnering brother Anand at the 2000 Wimbledon Championships

• Name — Vijay Amritraj • Born — 14 December 1953 • Birthplace — Madras, Madras State, India • Residence — Southern California, U.S. • Turnedpro — 1970 • Retired — 1993 • Plays — Right-handed (one-handed backhand) • Careerprizemoney — $1,331,913 • Tennishofyear — 2024 (member page) • Singlesrecord — 399–308 • Singlestitles — 15 • 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 was born in Madras, India, to a Tamil Christian Nadar family, consisting of parents Maggie Dhairyam and Robert Amritraj, and brothers Anand Amritraj and Ashok Amritraj, who were also international tennis players.

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. At Wimbledon, he lost in five sets 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. Amritraj beat Björn Borg in the second round in the US Open in 1974, losing to Rosewall in quarterfinals. 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. 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. 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. 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.

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. He also appeared briefly in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) as starship captain Joel Randolph. 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 Shyamala and sons Prakash Amritraj and Vikram. 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. He founded The Vijay Amritraj Foundation in 2006.

• 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

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• 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

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• Legend • Grand Slam (0) • Grand Prix Super Series (0) • Grand Prix Circuit (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 — Volvo International 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 — 6–7 5, 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, 6–7 6 • 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 — Southern Rhodesia 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

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