Ramanathan Krishnan is regarded as one of India's best tennis players of all times and made his place in the world's top 10 players. During his peak form in the game, Krishnan defeated famous players like Rod Laver, Neil Fraser and Emerson and he was seeded fourth at Wimbledon. Krishnan was born on April 11, 1937 in Madras (now Chennai). He won tennis junior and senior national championship for 8 consecutive years. Krishnan was awarded 'Arjuna Award' in 1967, 'Padmashree' in 1962 and 'Padmabhushan' in 1967. Ramanathan Krishnan is said to be an architect of Indian tennis after independence.