Yuki Bhambri

[prasen9]

I thought Vijay was fit while Ramesh was roly-poly.

[punarayan]

Ramesh was stockier, but I never saw him tired even while playing in the heat and humidity of the USO. Vijay, I felt, was not physically fit occasionally. Ramesh was the dedicated pro, always ready to hit with anyone around - he put in the time and effort. My all time favorite Indian player.

[prasen9]

True. But his serve was very weak. He was not unfit because he would reach most balls, had good footwork and beautiful shots. I have not seen anyone who was more of an artist on the tennis court. Sorry x-fans. I'd rather not mention who x is because I will be pilloried. But, he was not Michael Chang or Borris Becker. That is he would not show incredibly doggedness in running down balls or dive to volley like Becker. I can't choose between Vijay and Ramesh. Or for that matter, Leander. Three different players. I have not seen the senior RK play.

[Prashant]

I think all these posts lauding Ramesh are revisionist history. I will always credit him for Frejus and the win over #1 Wilander & a host of other things. But, if you think he maximised his potential, you're kidding yourself. That potbelly was never going to allow for a great career. There is no way that someone his size should have had as powder puff a serve or so pedestrian a forehand. He compensated for a lot of things with footwork & guile, but that meant he never achieved what he might have.

[rajitghosh]

Vijay suffered from asthma as a child. So his stamina was always suspect. He usually lost 5 setters and in that age 5 setters were common. If anyone from today's generation can achieve what Vijay and Ramesh did I would be happy.

[PKBasu]

I’ve heard It from Vijay himself in person (at least twice). He suffered from asthma and was a sickly child. All the focus was on Anand, who was the brightest and was multi-talented in sports (tennis, Badminton, Table Tennis). But they were still made to go on 5km runs every day, and Vijay learnt tennis along with his elder brother, eventually surprising his family by beating the elder brother — -although he was basically not allowed to the first few times they played each other!

That run was the main exercise he put in. Gym work was rare among tennis players until Lendl came along. Ramesh did a lot of skipping and other freehand exercises, but talks in his autobiography of being introduced to gym work only by Lendl. Yes, Ramesh never dived around (and nor did Vijay, although Vijay and Anand were much fitter than Ramesh). Ramesh was NOT pot-bellied. I’ve seen him at close quarters on several occasions: he had a completely flat stomach, but he did have a slightly large buttock (a la Roger Binny) which made him look a bit ungainly. Ramanathan was a bit more roly-poly looking, but he wasn’t pot-bellied either. They were supreme athletes, but did not pay as much attention to physical conditioning as some of their peers did. The Amritraj brothers picked up some of the best physical regimens from Pancho Gonzales early in their pro careers, but should have done more of the physical grind (apart from the long cross country run daily) when they were 10-17 years old. The tradition of depending on “skill” rather than physical fitness is rather too ingrained in Indian tennis.

[rajitghosh]

The stories you mention are there in his autobiography also. Ramesh Krishnan had gone to Harry Hopman 's academy where he got to do a lot of running and endurance related stuff. From what I have seen of Ramesh stamina was never an issue with him.
I have not seen videos of the 3 musketeers in action so can't comment on their fitness. However, I used to play tennis in South Club as a kid and Jaidip Mukerjea used to head the coaching there. He always used to empathise on good strokes rather than physical fitness. Unfortunately the politics between Akhtar Ali and Jaidip Mukerjea spoiled that coaching center.
In those days a young Leander with his coach Piperno and the man who considered himself a superstar Zeeshan Ali used to play there. Leander was mad about physical fitness whereas for Zeeshan it didn't matter as he and his father considered themselves superstars. Unlike a lot of stuff written on this forum Leander was extremely down to earth. Jaidip used to play once in a while and one could make out he was great volleyer.

[jayakris]

In those days a young Leander with his coach Piperno and the man who considered himself a superstar Zeeshan Ali used to play there.

Leander was mad about physical fitness whereas for Zeeshan it didn't matter as he and his father considered themselves superstars. Unlike a lot of stuff written on this forum Leander was extremely down to earth.

Lender has often been very down to earth. I still remember meeting him the very first time, in 1997 at Indian Wells. Here was the Olympics medalist from just a few months ago, taking a long walk with a family of three he had just met for the first time (me, my wife and a 4 year old son, whom he started carrying!) and just chit-chatting about things like where the name "Paes" came from, and how much he liked Magalorean dishes and everything under the sun. We had just met him after his match outside the court. He gave me his email address, phone number and the whole works. He is like that. He indeed has a very down to earth and friendly side to him. But he always had a complicated side as well to him, particularly in his thinking, and that has got him in trouble time and again.

[knarayen]

The stories you mention are there in his autobiography also. Ramesh Krishnan had gone to Harry Hopman 's academy where he got to do a lot of running and endurance related stuff.

Harry Hopman's training was far more than "running and endurance-related stuff". Hopman trained Laver, Rosewall, Emmo, Newk, Stolle and the regimen he put them through was a tough grind that include endurance AND flexibility AND strength training - in fact he invented periodization training for tennis which became the gold standard for tennis fitness and which was subsequently emulated by many in the US when Hopman, Laver and Emmo migrated to the US. In fact Newk still uses those techniques in his camp here in New Braunfels.

I grew up on a mini-version of the Hopman training - it was so gruelling that many of my contemporaries dropped out - one that did stay with it and even did more than the mini-version was my brother Raghuram who beat Ramesh in Pune in 1978 when Ramesh was the national champion - so we know that the Hopman method works!!

Prof

[prasen9]

I think all these posts lauding Ramesh are revisionist history. I will always credit him for Frejus and the win over #1 Wilander & a host of other things. But, if you think he maximised his potential, you're kidding yourself. That potbelly was never going to allow for a great career. There is no way that someone his size should have had as powder puff a serve or so pedestrian a forehand. He compensated for a lot of things with footwork & guile, but that meant he never achieved what he might have.

I did laud Ramesh but I did not laud him for his fitness. I said that he managed to reach the ball. Some people I play tennis and soccer with are substantially overweight but manage to reach the ball showing more alacrity than their size would indicate. Ramesh was similar. Had he dropped weight and fat I guess and trained more, he would have been able to retrieve better. I lauded him for his footwork in being able to reach the ball given his girth and his beautiful shotmaking. I guess beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

[Prashant]

The tradition of depending on “skill” rather than physical fitness is rather too ingrained in Indian tennis.

Had he dropped weight and fat I guess and trained more, he would have been able to retrieve better. I lauded him for his footwork in being able to reach the ball given his girth and his beautiful shotmaking.

Prasen, you are right. I think it comes down to PKB's comment above. There was a false dichotomy between the beautiful stroke making, and being fit enough to physically dominate. And I think Ramesh was too far on one extreme of that. It was frustrating to me that he didn't add a dimension to his game. Just a more powerful serve alone would have resulted in a much better career. Instead, every serve was trying to paint a line at a very slow speed. Once in a while it worked to great effect, but much of the time he just started at a disadvantage.

[Rajiv]

Poor Yuki, he musr be wondering and totally confused why out the blue,Ramesh,Vijay,Jaideep akhtar ,zeeshan ali, ,Leander,Piperno , and oh yes Harry Hopman have all barged in his Thread

[knarayen]

Poor Yuki, he musr be wondering and totally confused why out the blue,Ramesh,Vijay,Jaideep akhtar ,zeeshan ali, ,Leander,Piperno , and oh yes Harry Hopman have all barged in his Thread

Well said...i was wondering too

[Rajiv]

Poor Yuki, he musr be wondering and totally confused why out the blue,Ramesh,Vijay,Jaideep akhtar ,zeeshan ali, ,Leander,Piperno , and oh yes Harry Hopman have all barged in his Thread

Well said...i was wondering too

And not to forget even Roger Binny's buttocks got a look in

[jayakris]

And I now know that it was not just me, so I don't have to feel bad about the fact that I had noticed the said posterior of the said cricket player... Not that there is anything wrong with it, as Seinfeld would say