lPrakash Amritraj made an early debut in international tennis. One day, as a child, he dashed onto court when his father Vijay was getting the worst of a match with Ivan Lendl. ?In the middle of the match, I ran on to the court because I was upset. Even Lendl started laughing,? he recalls.
Today, it?s 21-year-old Prakash who is striding onto the court with his racquet in hand and his father who is sitting on the sidelines. Prakash is currently the highest-ranked Indian singles player on the ATP tour. He is also the first Indian tennis player after Leander to qualify for an ATP tour event.
But Prakash is always on the watch for encouragement and inspiration from his father in the audience. He insists that he?s an Indian even though he lived in America. ?I haven?t ever thought of myself as anything but an Indian,? says Prakash about the controversy about his playing for India in the Davis Cup. Vijay is also an Indian citizen though he lives abroad.
A 2001 graduate of Harvard-Westlake High in North Hollywood, California, Prakash decided to play tennis because he grew up around the game. Tennis ace Leander Paes calls him ?explosive? on court and his own father is understandably proud of him.
Prakash lists his father as his biggest sports hero because of the countless times he defeated the odds ?with dignity and class? and calls him his best friend off court. And even Vijay admits that his son ?hangs on to every word that I say?.
Do the father and son play a similar game? Nandan Bal, India?s Davis Cup coach says how he and Vijay once noticed that Prakash swung his arms before a serve. ?Vijay was wondering where he had got the habit from. I remarked that it must be genetic, for it was something that Vijay also did.?
Prakash has played two seasons of varsity tennis and has led his prep team to the CIF Los Angeles City Section championship in 1998 and 1999. In the 18-and-unders, he has won international doubles titles in Manila, Montreal, Singapore and Jakarta. He has also won the 2000 Easter Bowl doubles title and has competed at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
