‘Humbled, honoured’

Former doubles World No 1 Leander Paes and tennis broadcaster actor and player Vijay Amritraj became the first Asian men inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame here on SaturdayThe first inductees from India were joined by British tennis journalist and author Richard Evans in enshrinement ceremonies at the Hall of Fame in Newport Rhode Island Paes recounted his youth playing football and hockey before turning to tennis and eventually following his hockeycaptain father as an Olympic medallistldquoItrsquos my greatest honour to be on this stage with not only these legends of the game people who have inspired me every single day of my lifemdashnot because yoursquove only won Grand Slams not because yoursquove shaped our sport but every single one of these people have shaped the world we live inrdquo Paes saidldquoI would like to thank you so much for giving this Indian boy hoperdquoAmritraj 70 played from 1970 until retiring in 1993 winning 15 ATP singles titles and 399 matches and being ranked as high as 18th in the world and helped India to the Davis Cup finals in 1974 and 1987ldquoI am humbled and honoured to join this incredible and exclusive group that have brought glory to our sportrdquo Amritraj saidVijay overcome with emotionAfter his playing days Amritraj has helped humanitarian causes backed ATP and WTA events in India and has acted in the James Bond and Star Trek movie series ldquoA feeling came over me that I had never experiencedrdquo Amritraj said of learning about his election to the HallldquoThis was an honour not just for me for my family for my parents but for all of my fellow Indians and my country who live around the worldrdquoLike Amritraj Evans was inducted in the contributor category for his life impact on the sport Paes 51 was an 18time Grand Slam champion in doubles and mixed doubles who was selected in the player category after honing his trade in an Amritraj youth academyPaes and Amritraj made India the 28th nation represented in the Hall of Fame ldquoPlaying for 14 billion people could either be pressure or it could be wind within your wingsrdquo Paes said ldquoIrsquod like to thank every single one of my countrymen who supported me who stood by through all the ups and downs and wersquove been through a few but you all were the inspiration the support you were even the strength to guide me through when even I didnrsquot believerdquoAlso Read Leander Paes laments state of Indian Davis Cup says will take a decade to lift standardNewport Leersquos special venuePaes won career Grand Slams in both menrsquos and mixed doubles completing one in menrsquos by winning the 2012 Australian Open and another in mixed by capturing the 2016 French Open He won the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bronze medal by defeating Brazilrsquos Fernando Meligeni 36 62 64 His only ATP singles title came in 1998 on Newport grass in the same venue where he was inductedldquoAs my father always said to me if you believe in yourself you work hard yoursquoll be passionate not only to win prize money and trophies but you do that to inspire the worldrdquo Paes said ldquoIt has been my greatest honour to play for my countrymen in seven Olympics to stand where the national anthem is playing in all those Davis Cups and to prove that we Asians can win Grand Slams and also be No 1 in our field be it tennis or anythingrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever