Naresh Kumar, Indian tennis great and mentor to Leander Paes, dies
Naresh Kumar played in the Indian Davis Cup and also served as captain. He was also a tennis coach and received the Dronacharya Lifetime Achievement award.
Former Indian tennis player and Davis Cup captain Naresh Kumar, who was a mentor to Olympic medallist Leander Paes and several others, died due to natural causes in Kolkata on Wednesday. He was 93.
Naresh Kumar rose to prominence in 1949, making the latter stages of the Indian International championships and Northern Championships. He made his debut for India in the Davis Cup in 1952 and was a mainstay of the team.
Playing in the days before the Open Era, where only amateurs were allowed, Naresh Kumar’s best performance at Wimbledon came in 1955 when he made the fourth round in the men’s singles.
In the men’s doubles, Naresh Kumar thrice made the quarter-finals - in 1953 with Narendra Nath and in 1955 and 1958 with Ramanathan Krishnan.
Kumar retired in 1969 with five titles to his name and later turned his attention to coaching and non-playing roles in tennis, such as writing and commentary.
“We grew up idolising Naresh Kumar as the tennis star. He had a great influence on me, Premjit Lal and Dilip Bose as we were starting our tennis lessons as teenagers in the South Club (in Kolkata),” former player Jaidip Mukherjea, who made the Davis Cup final with India, told Sportstar.
“He used to help us a lot and would often join us in playing doubles matches to show the finer aspects of the game. He was a perfect gentleman who was always working for the development of tennis in the country,” Jaidip added.
Naresh Kumar was the non-playing captain of the Indian Davis Cup team in 1990, when Leander Paes made his debut in the tournament.
Naresh Kumar was conferred with the Dronacharya Lifetime Achievement award by the Indian government in 2020, becoming the first tennis coach to receive the honour.