Vijay Amritraj
Founder, The Vijay Amritraj Foundation(Jan 2006 - Till Now)
Los Angeles, USA
Vijay Amritraj is an Indian sports commentator, occasional actor and former tennis player from Madras.
After playing his first Grand Prix event in 1970, Amritraj achieved his first significant 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 before 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 after being up 2–0. 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 384–296, winning 16 singles and 13 doubles titles.
He was awarded the Padma Shri, India's 4th highest civilian honour, in 1983.
Sundeep is a stand-up comedian with a serious disability – the ability to unscrupulously dis himself and, everyone around him! With his partially-blind sight uncannily clear when it comes to his many observations and opinions, Sundeep Rao is a scrumptious little Brahmin delight with a most unorthodox sense of cheeky wit. Voted India’s Funniest Partially Blind Stand-up Comedian, he carries his mantle with immense pride even if he might be the only nominee in the category.
And, in the way of all true artistes, the world is quite literally Sundeep’s stage, with over 600 trail-blazing performances from Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore to New York, Edinburgh, Singapore and beyond! His rib-tickling, eye-watering, cramp-inducing comedy has left audiences in splits in shows ranging from comedy specials and high-profile engagements to award ceremonies, international summits and corporate events.