Leander Paes and Vijay Amritraj break ground as first Indian nominees for Hall of Fame

Leander Peas and Vijay Amritraj

India's Leander Paes, a former top-ranked doubles player in the world, is in the running to be inducted into Tennis's Hall of Fame in 2024. Paes' nomination was announced by the International Tennis Hall of Fame on September 26.

He is competing with five other players, including Carlos Moya, a former world's top-ranked player who now coaches Spain's Rafael Nadal. If Paes is inducted into the Hall of Fame, he will become the first tennis player from India to achieve this honor.

But that's not all. India's Vijay Amritraj, a former top-level tennis player who is now a popular commentator and tennis analyst, is also a nominee in the 'Contributor category.'

This category recognizes individuals who contribute to the tennis ecosystem around the world, including broadcasters, commentators, and journalists. The only other nominee in this category, aside from Amritraj, is the popular tennis journalist Richard Evans from the United Kingdom.

Leander Paes is nominated in the highly coveted players' category. Currently, his name, along with those of five other players, has been announced as nominees. They will now be open to fan voting, giving tennis fans worldwide the opportunity to vote for the player they would like to see inducted into tennis' Hall of Fame.

Aside from Paes and Moya, the nominees include Ana Ivanovic from Serbia, Flavia Pennetta of Italy, Cara Black of Zimbabwe, and Daniel Nestor of Canada. Fan voting will continue until the end of October. Additionally, the voting groups officially appointed by the International Hall of Fame are in the process of casting their votes for their preferred players, which will be combined with the fan voting results. In January 2024, the results will be announced, and the winners will be formally inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame during a ceremony in July 2024.

Leander Paes, who has now retired, is one of India's most illustrious tennis players. Over his career, which spanned from 1990 to 2020, he won 54 career doubles titles and earned $78,10,052 in prize money from his doubles play.

This impressive record includes a total of 18 Major Titles, which are known as grand slam titles in tennis terminology. According to ATPWorldtour.com, he is one of only three players to have won all four Major titles in both men's doubles and mixed doubles. Of the 18 Major doubles titles, he won 8 in men's and 10 in mixed doubles. In 1996, Paes also earned a Bronze medal at the Olympics, which were held in Atlanta, USA that year.