Chennai: A second round match at Flinders Park Stadium (now Melbourne Park) on January 19, 1989, is indelibly etched in the annals of Indian tennis history. By knocking out defending champion and then world No.1 Mats Wilander, an unseeded Ramesh Krishnan had not only pulled off the biggest upset of the Australian Open, but also left the Swede contemplating retirement from the sport.
Ramesh, ranked 51st in the world, prevailed in straight sets (6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (5)), sending Wilander, the winner of three of four Grand Slam tournaments, to his earliest exit in a Slam event since 1985.
“I played really short and you can’t get away with that against Ramesh. And mentally, I wasn’t into the match. He never let up and didn’t make any mistakes. I will just have to see what happens in the next few days. If I still feel this way, I may take some time off,” Wilander had said.
He may not have retired immediately, but the shock defeat proved to be the beginning of the end of Wilander’s domination as he failed to win a tournament that year before eventually walking into the sunset in 1996.
Sunday marks the silver jubilee of Ramesh’s landmark victory. “It was the highest point of my career and one of those matches where I played to my potential. It was a great victory because I was coming from an injury lay-off,” reminisced Ramesh, who had lost to Wilander in the Davis Cup final in 1987.
Up against the three-time Australian Open champion in the packed stadium, Ramesh said he had his fair share of supporters. “The crowd was amazing and it pumped me up. A light drizzle almost came to Wilander’s rescue when I was leading 1-0, 40-0 in the second set, but officials turned down his request for play to be halted,” said Ramesh who was known for exquisite shot making in his playing days.
Ramesh had an opportunity to close out the match early, but he squandered three match points before finally winning it in the tie-breaker.
“I broke my racquet while serving during the tie-breaker and I was up 5-4 then. I was nervous and made a double-fault to make it 5-5. I earned my fourth match point with a forehand volley and won the match with a cross-court backhand volley,” recalled Ramesh, who made it to the quarterfinals of Grand Slam thrice (1986 Wimbledon, 1981 and1987 US Open).
Not one to show his emotions on court, Ramesh celebrated the victory by smiling at his wife Priya, who sat anxiously in the player’s guest box.
Ramesh’s dream run, however, came to an end in the next round when he went down fighting, in four sets, to Mexican Leonardo Lavalle Moreno.
