Vijay Amritraj (; born 14 December 1953) is an Indian retired professional tennis player, sports commentator and actor from Madras. He was awarded the Padma Shri (India's fourth-highest civilian honour), in 1983, and the Padma Bhushan (India's third-highest civilian honour) in 2026. In 2022, he was honored for his contributions to tennis in London by the International Tennis Hall of Fame and International Tennis Federation. On July 20, 2024 he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.

Early life 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.

Career 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.

Acting career 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.

Personal life 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.

https://vijayamritrajfoundation.net

He founded The Vijay Amritraj Foundation in 2006.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes1983 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

Career statistics

Singles performance timeline

Tournament1972197319741975197619771978197919801981198219831984198519861987198819891990SRAustralian OpenAAAAAAAAAAA1R2RAAAAAA 0 / 2French OpenAA3RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 0 / 1Wimbledon2RQF2R2R2R2R2R2R1RQF3R1R1R4R1R2RAA1R 0 / 17US Open1RQFQF2R1R1R1R2R3R3RAA2R1RAAAAA 0 / 12

Career finals Legend Grand Slam (0) Grand Prix Super Series (0) Grand Prix Circuit (15) Singles: 27 (19 titles / 8 runner-ups) ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin1–0Bretton Woods, U.S. Clay Jimmy Connors7–5, 2–6, 7–5Loss1–1South Orange, U.S.Grass Colin Dibley4–6, 7–6, 4–6Win2–1New Delhi, IndiaGrass Mal Anderson6–4, 5–7, 8–9, 6–3, 11–9Loss2–2Tempe, U.S.Hard Jimmy Connors1–6, 2–6Win3–2Beckenham, EnglandGrass Tom Gorman6–7, 6–2, 6–4Win4–2Columbus, U.S.Hard Bob Lutz6–4, 7–5Win5–2Calcutta, IndiaClay Manuel Orantes7–5, 6–3Win6–2Memphis, U.S.Carpet (i) Stan Smith6–2, 0–6, 6–0Win7–2Newport, U.S.Grass Brian Teacher6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–1Win8–2Auckland, New ZealandGrass Tim Wilkison7–6, 5–7, 6–1, 6–2Win9–2Bombay, IndiaClay Terry Moor7–6, 6–4Win10–2Mexico City, MexicoCarpet (i) Raúl Ramírez6–4, 6–4Loss10–3Cologne, West GermanyHard (i) Wojciech Fibak2–6, 1–0 ret.Win11–3Bombay, IndiaClay Peter Elter6–1, 7–5Loss11–4WCT Invitational Salisbury, U.S.Carpet (i) Björn Borg5–7, 1–6, 3–6Loss11–5Milan, ItalyCarpet (i) John McEnroe2–6, 4–6Win12–5Newport, U.S.Grass Andrew Pattison6–1, 5–7, 6–3Win13–5Bangkok, ThailandCarpet (i) Brian Teacher6–3, 7–5Loss13–6WCT Challenge Cup, CanadaCarpet (i) John McEnroe1–6, 6–2, 1–6Loss13–7Salisbury WCT, U.S.Carpet (i) Bill Scanlon6-3, 2-2, 4-6, 6-3, 4-6Loss13–8Stowe, U.S.Hard John Fitzgerald6–3, 2–6, 5–7Win14–8Newport, U.S.Grass Tim Mayotte3–6, 6–4, 6–4Win15–8Bristol, EnglandGrass Henri Leconte7–6, 1–6, 8–6

Doubles: 29 (13 titles / 15 runner-ups) ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 0–1 New Delhi, India Anand Amritraj Jim McManus Raúl Ramírez 2–6, 4–6Win 1–1 Bombay, India Clay Anand Amritraj Dick Crealy Onny Parun 6–4, 7–6Loss 1–2 South Orange, U.S. Hard Anand Amritraj Brian Gottfried Raúl Ramírez 6–7, 7–6, 6–7Win 2–2 Columbus, U.S. Hard Anand Amritraj Tom Gorman Bob Lutz walkoverLoss 2–3 Toronto, Canada Carpet (i) Anand Amritraj Dick Stockton Erik van Dillen 4–6, 5–7, 1–6Loss 2–4 Washington D.C., U.S. Carpet (i) Anand Amritraj Mike Estep Jeff Simpson 6–75, 3–6Win 3–4 Atlanta, U.S. Carpet (i) Anand Amritraj Mark Cox Cliff Drysdale 6–3, 6–2Loss 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, 6–4Loss 4–6 Calcutta, India Clay Anand Amritraj Juan Gisbert Manuel Orantes 6–1, 4–6, 3–6Win 5–6 Memphis, U.S. Carpet (i) Anand Amritraj Roscoe Tanner Marty Riessen 6–3, 6–4Loss 5–7 St. Louis, U.S. Carpet (i) Dick Stockton Ilie Năstase Adriano Panatta 4–6, 6–3, 6–76Loss 5–8 Rotterdam, Netherlands Carpet (i) Dick Stockton Wojciech Fibak Tom Okker 4–6, 4–6Win 6–8 Masters Doubles WCT, U.S. Carpet (i) Dick Stockton Vitas Gerulaitis Adriano Panatta 7–6, 7–6, 4–6, 6–3Win 7–8 London, England Grass Anand Amritraj David Lloyd John Lloyd 6–1, 6–2Win 8–8 Mexico City, Mexico Carpet (i) Anand Amritraj Fred McNair Raúl Ramírez 6–4, 7–5Loss 8–9 Cairo, Egypt Clay Anand Amritraj Peter McNamara Paul McNamee 5–7, 4–6Loss 8–10 Louisville, U.S. Hard Raúl Ramírez Marty Riessen Sherwood Stewart 2–6, 6–1, 1–6Loss 8–11 Sydney, Australia Hard Pat DuPré Rod Frawley Francisco González walkoverWin 9–11 Rotterdam, Netherlands Carpet (i) Stan Smith Bill Scanlon Brian Teacher 6–4, 6–3Win 10–11 Frankfurt, West Germany Carpet (i) Stan Smith Andrew Pattison Butch Walts 6–7, 6–2, 6–2Loss 10–12 Columbus, U.S. Hard Anand Amritraj Bruce Manson Brian Teacher 1–6, 1–6Loss 10–13 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. Carpet (i) Fred Stolle Anand Amritraj Tony Giammalva 5–7, 2–6Win 11–13 Chicago, U.S. Carpet (i) Anand Amritraj Mike Cahill Bruce Manson 3–6, 6–3, 6–3Win 12–13 Newport, U.S. Grass John Fitzgerald Tim Gullikson Tom Gullikson 6–3, 6–4Loss 12–14 Columbus, U.S. Hard John Fitzgerald Scott Davis Brian Teacher 1–6, 6–4, 6–7Loss 12–15 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Ilie Năstase Henri Leconte Tomáš Šmíd 6–3, 6–7, 4–6Win 13–15 Newport, U.S. Grass Tim Wilkison Eddie Edwards Francisco González 4–6, 7–5, 7–6

References

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