Former Indian tennis stalwart Naresh Kumar died in Kolkata on Wednesday, aged 93.
Kumar played during the 1950s and had reached the Wimbledon singles fourth round in 1955, losing to top seed and eventual champion Tony Trabert of the United States. He’s also a three-time men’s doubles, and 1957 mixed doubles quarterfinalist at Wimbledon.
He played his last competitive match – according to his ATP profile – in the first round at Wimbledon in 1963.
In Davis Cup, he played 17 ties for India across eight years, and later became the non-playing captain that handed the then 16-year-old Leander Paes his debut in the competition in an April 1990 tie against Japan.
Till date, Kumar is the only tennis coach to have been awarded the Dronacharya Award, when he won the accolade for lifetime achievement in 2020. He was also the second lawn tennis player, after Ramanathan Krishnan, to win the Arjuna Award, in 1962.
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