| Sultana of Indian tennis: Sania Mirza |
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| Sania started her career with a high note when she won the junior double Wimbledon. She is the new icon of Indian sports. She is the first Indian women tennis player, who is knocking the door to reach on top on tennis court; she became the Second Indian girl after Nirupama Sanjeev (vaidyanathan) to play in the Grand Slam tournament at the Australian open. |
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Sania not only reached the third round at the Australian open which is a record for an Indian girl in the grand Slam but also raised the hopes of many upcoming tennis players in India. Although Sania lost to the eventual champion Serena Williams in the third round, she proved that she is a real fighter.
In spite of injury Sania won the WTA tennis title in her hometown Hyderabad. Sania has all the qualities of a champion. Despite sore ankle she played in the WTA tennis championship.
Martina Navratilova praised Sania's play stating that, "Sania could make her place among top fifty". Sania has made the Indian tennis fan proud. She is just 19; she can further improve her game to match the top players of the world. Coming years are important for Sania. At present she is far behind than the leading players of the world.
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| Leander Paes |
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Birthdate |
June 17,1973 |
| Birthplace |
Goa, India |
| Residence |
Calcutta, India; Orlando, Florida |
| Height |
5'10" (1.75m) Weight:171 (78 kg) |
| Plays |
Right-handed |
|
| Ranking |
| Year |
Rank |
| 1998 |
91 |
| 1997 |
114 |
| 1996 |
128 |
| 1995 |
132 |
| 1994 |
133 |
| 1993 |
178 |
| 1992 |
273 |
| 1991 |
275 |
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Career Highlights
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1990
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Represented India for the first time in Davis Cup play vs. Korea...
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1991
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 Qualifier at the Tour stop in New Haven...
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Posted two singles wins vs. Indonesia in Davis Cup play and a 1-1 record vs. Korea...
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1992
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Represented India at the Barcelona Olympics in singles and doubles (w/Krishnan) reaching QF...
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Singles titlist at the Guangzhoa Challenger...
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Doubles titlist at the New Haven (w/Nelson) and Hong Kong (w/Johnson)
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Challengers...
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1993
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Won Challenger doubles titles in Bangalore and Wolfsburg (both w/Johnson)...
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SF at the U.S. Open (w/Lareau)...
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1994
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Won Bombay and Binghamton Challengers...
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ln doubles, won two Challengers...
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1995
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Reached QF at Australian Open (w/Ullyett),
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Won Challengers in Nagoya (w/Ullyett), Bogota (w/Ortiz) and Aruba (w/Bhupathi)...
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Earned career-best $120,318.
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| Prakash Amritraj |
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Name |
Prakash Amritraj |
| Father's Name |
Vijay Amritraj |
| Date of Birth |
2 October 1983 |
| Residence |
Encino, California, USA |
| Highest ATP Rank |
In Singles 220 & In Doubles 206 |
|
Notable Results:
|
Year 2004
|
$25K Fergana Challenger Finalist
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Year 2003
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Won the $25K Indian Satellite Circuit
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$25K Dharwad Challenger Semifinalist
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$15K Indonesia Futures Semifinalist
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Beat Marat Safin at the LA International series event (Marat withdrew due to injury after trailing in the first set)
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Prakash Amritraj is currently the highest ranked Indian singles player on the ATP tour. He is also the first Indian tennis player in a long while (after Leander Paes) to qualify into an ATP tour event. Prakash was named MVP at the NCAA Championships Final for National Champions University of Southern California in 2002. His other claim to fame is that he is the son of the legendary Vijay Amritraj. He plays a serve and volley game and has avoided clay studiously in his career so far.
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| Harsh Mankad |
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Name |
Harsh Mankad |
| Father's Name |
Ashok Mankad |
| Date of Birth |
10 November 1979 |
| Residence |
Mumbai, India |
| Davis Cup Record |
3-10 |
| Highest ATP Rank |
In Singles 282 & In Doubles 154 |
|
Notable Results:
|
Year 2004
|
$50K Lexington Challenger Quarterfinalist
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$50K Granby Challenger Quarterfinalist
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$25K Fergana Challenger Quarterfinalist
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$15K Lebanon F1, Qatar F2 Semifinalist
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Year 2003
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$25K Bangalore Challenger Semifinalist
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$10K India F8 Winner
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$10K India F7 Finalist
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$10K India F1, India F2, Portugal F8 Semifinalist
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Year 2002
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$10K India F8 Winner
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$10K India F5, India F6 Finalist
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Year 2001
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$10K Canada F1 Winner
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Winner of the US Collegiate Grand Slam leg-1 (Indoors)
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Harsh Mankad is a solid baseline player who is currently one of the top ranked Indian professionals. He went to the US on a college scholarship and fine tuned his tennis there. In 2002, Harsh was the #1 ranked USA College players. He has played multiple events in India and abroad, and is currently ranked as the top Indian doubles players outside of Mahesh and Leander. He is also the grandson of the legendary Vinoo Mankad and son of the former Asian women's tennis champion Nirupama Vasanth and cricket star Ashok Mankad
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| Shikha Uberoi |
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Name |
Shikha Uberoi |
| Date of Birth |
5 April 1983 |
| Residence |
USA |
| Highest WTA Rank |
In Singles 158 & In Doubles 353 |
| |
|
|
Notable Results:
|
Year 2004
|
US Open: Qualified into the main draw winning 4 matches, lost in R2 to Venus Williams
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Budapest Open (Tier V): Qualified into the main draw winning 3 matches.
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Reached QF of $75K Alburquerque event.
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Reached QF of $50K Louisville, Tucson and Palm Beach Gardens events.
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Reached QF of $25K College Park event.
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Won Edmond, Fort Worth $10K events.
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Shikha Uberoi is one of the highest ranked Indian womens players. She plays a powerful right handed tennis and her biggest achievement to date has been her feats at the US Open in 2004 where she qualified into the main draw after winning 4 matches. She had only made the qualifiers as a Wild Card entry. Shikha won her first round match and finally losing to Venus Williams in the second round 5-7 1-6. This event probably marked the real start of Shikha's career when people starting to sit up and take notice of her play. Shikha has applied to the ITF to play for India and should be representing India in the Fed Cup in 2005 alongside Sania Mirza. Another interesting tit-bit about Shikha is that she is related to the Bollywood star Vivek Oberoi.
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| Nirupama Vaidyanathan |
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Date of Birth |
8 December 1976 |
| Place |
Coimbatore, India |
| Plays |
Right Handed |
| WTA Ranking |
134 in Singles, 129 in Doubles (in early 1997) |
| | |
|
| Ranking |
| Year |
Rank |
| 1994 |
No Rank |
| 1995 |
340 |
| 1996 |
189 |
| 1997 |
181 |
| 1998 |
162 |
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Achievements for India
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Been the No. 1 player of India in Fed cup for the past 5 years
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India has qualified to play in the Group 1 qualifying in the Asian zone to be held next year.
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Won all 4 gold medals at the South Asian Federation games 1995 in the team event, individual singles, doubles and mixed doubles events.
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Been a member of World Youth Cup as a junior representing India in 1991 and '92
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Won bronze medal in Mixed doubles at the Asian Games XIII, Bangkok, Dec '98 (with Mahesh Bhupathi).
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| Karan Rastogi |
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Date of Birth |
8 October 1986 |
| Place |
Mumbai, Maharashtra |
| Residence |
Mumbai |
| Nationality |
Indian |
| Plays |
Right Handed {Double handed backhand} |
|
| Ranking |
| Career High Combined |
4 (15 Mar 2004) |
| Career High Singles |
17 (15 Dec 03) |
| Career High Doubles |
6 (15 Dec 03) |
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| Tushar Liberhan |
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Date of Birth |
8 October 1986 |
| Place |
Ludhiana, Punjab |
| Residence |
Chandigarh |
| Nationality |
Indian |
| Plays |
Right Handed {Double handed backhand} |
|
| Ranking |
| Career High Combined |
29 (14 Jun 2004) |
| Career High Singles |
77 (15 Dec 03) |
| Career High Doubles |
88 (06 Jan 03) |
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| Top |
| Divij Sharan |
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Date of Birth |
2 March 1986 |
| Place |
Delhi |
| Residence |
New Delhi |
| Nationality |
India |
| Plays |
Left Handed {Double handed backhand} |
|
| Ranking |
| Career High Combined |
29 (08 Mar 2004) |
| Career High Singles |
101 (28 Jul 03) |
| Career High Doubles |
5 (20 Oct 03)
|
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| Rupesh Roy |
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Date of Birth |
16 February 1989 |
| Place |
Kolkata, West Bengal |
| Residence |
Kolkata |
| Nationality |
India |
| Plays |
Right Handed {Double handed backhand} |
|
| Ranking |
| Current Combined |
48 (30 Jan 2006) |
| Career High Combined |
40 (09 Jan 2006) |
| Career High Singles |
179 (03 Feb 03) |
| Career High Doubles |
111 (07 Apr 03) |
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| Top |
| Anshuman Dutta |
 |
Date of Birth |
30 January 1987 |
| Nationality |
India |
| Ranking |
| Career High Combined |
196 (03 Jan 2005) |
| Career High Singles |
393 (10 Feb 03) |
| Career High Doubles |
400 (10 Feb 03) |
|
| Siddharth Gulati |
| Date of Birth |
18 May 1986 |
| Nationality |
India |
|
| Ranking |
| Career High Combined |
299 (05 Jan 2004) |
| Career High Singles |
474 (29 Sep 03) |
| Career High Doubles |
268 (22 Dec 03) |
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| Top |
| Vivek Shokeen |
 |
Date of Birth |
31 July 1987 |
| Place |
New Delhi |
| Residence |
New Delhi |
| Nationality |
India |
| Plays |
Right Handed {Double handed backhand} |
|
| Ranking |
| Career High Combined |
26 (11 Apr 2005) |
| Career High Singles |
441 (22 Dec 03) |
| Career High Doubles |
395 (13 Oct 03) |
|
| Sumit Prakash Gupta |
 |
Date of Birth |
27 November1988 |
| Place |
Etawah, India |
| Residence |
Etawah, India |
| Nationality |
India |
| Plays |
Right Handed {Double handed backhand} |
|
| Ranking |
| Current Combined |
91 (30 Jan 2006) |
| Career High Combined |
88 (23 Jan 2006) |
| Career High Singles |
282 (22 Dec 03) |
| Career High Doubles |
185 (29 Dec 03) |
|
| Top |
| WTA Rank |
Player Name |
Quality Points |
Rank Points |
Tourn. Played |
| 159 |
Uberoi, Shikha (USA)* |
68.00 |
214.25 |
26 |
| 169 |
Mirza, Sania (IND ) |
50.00 |
196.25 |
14 |
| 295 |
Uberoi, Neha (USA)* |
25.00 |
85.00 |
23 |
| 339 |
Chakravarthi, Rushmi (IND ) |
10.00 |
65.50 |
20 |
| 420 |
Bhambri, Ankita (IND ) |
6.00 |
44.50 |
11 |
| 562 |
Jayaram, Sai Jayalakshmy (IND) |
2.00 |
23.00 |
13 |
| 570 |
Bhambri, Sanaa (IND) |
3.00 |
22.25 |
7 |
| 576 |
Reddy, Punam (IND) |
2.00 |
21.50 |
7 |
| 589 |
Vakharia, Megha (IND) |
1.00 |
20.50 |
10 |
| 610 |
Lakhani, Isha (IND) |
0.00 |
19.50 |
7 |
| 614 |
Venkataraman, Archana (IND) |
1.00 |
19.25 |
9 |
| 689 |
Manohar, Geeta (IND) |
0.00 |
14.75 |
11 |
| 722 |
Phadke, Sonal (IND) |
0.00 |
13.50 |
10 |
| 732 |
Dhawan, Shruti (IND) |
2.00 |
12.75 |
13 |
| 746 |
Rai, Iciri (IND) |
1.00 |
12.00 |
9 |
| 180 |
Mirza, Sania (IND) |
12.00 |
185.00 |
11 |
| 289 |
Jayaram, Sai Jayalakshmy (IND) |
1.00 |
79.50 |
15 |
| 320 |
Chakravarthy, Rushmi (IND) |
1.00 |
68.00 |
17 |
| 397 |
Uberoi, Shikha (USA)* |
1.00 |
42.50 |
16 |
| 410 |
Uberoi, Neha (USA)* |
1.00 |
41.00 |
14 |
| 434 |
Bhambri, Ankita (IND) |
0.00 |
35.50 |
9 |
| 487 |
Bhambri, Sanaa (IND) |
0.00 |
28.00 |
6 |
| 507 |
Lakhani, Isha (IND) |
0.00 |
25.25 |
4 |
| 531 |
Dhawan, Shruti (IND) |
0.00 |
23.50 |
9 |
| 542 |
Pereira, Liza (IND) |
0.00 |
22.50 |
12 |
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