'You Are Always Going To Be Indian': Why Vijay Amritraj Didn't Change His Nationality Despite Leaving India
Vijay Amritraj was born in Madras in December 1953 to Maggie Dhairyam and Robert Amritraj and later moved to the United States of America.
Former Indian tennis player and sports commentator Vijay Amritraj has said that the love for his motherland and the affection that the Indian population across the globe showed him during his playing days made him retain his nationality despite having moved to the United States of America.
Amritraj was born in Madras in December 1953 to Maggie Dhairyam and Robert Amritraj. His brothers Anand and Ashok were also international tennis players.
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The star Indian tennis player first gained worldwide fame when he reached the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon and US Open in 1973.
“Wherever you are in the world, wherever I have travelled, wherever I have had the good fortune to play and to meet the kind of people that I did, you are always going to be an Indian," Amritraj said while speaking at the Rising Bharat Summit 2025.
“Wherever I have played, the flag was flown, the anthem was sung, Indians were there, and all I had to do was play 60% of my game because they got me through the other 40%," Amritraj added.
In the quarterfinals of the 1973 Wimbledon, he lost to second-seed Czech player Jan Kodes, who was the eventual runner-up in that tournament.
At the US Open that year, Amritraj lost to the great Aussie player Ken Rosewall. On the way to the quarters, he stunned the fourth-seeded Rodney Laver in a five-set thriller in the third round.
At the 1974 US Open, Amritraj stunned fourth-seeded Bjorn Borg in the second round in another five-set thriller and then took out the 11th-seeded American Martin Riessen in three sets in the fourth round, before falling again to Rosewall in the quarters.
In the second round of the 1981 Wimbledon, Amritraj beat sixth-seeded American Brian Teacher before losing to James Connors in the quarters.
Amritraj’s best performance at a Grand Slam came in 1976 Wimbledon, when he reached the men’s doubles semifinals with his brother Anand. They took out Robert Hewitt and Frew McMillan in the first round before getting beaten by the American-Mexican duo of Brian Gottfried and Raul Ramirez.
Amritraj was awarded the Padma Shri in 1983.
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