Prakash Amritraj, son of the legendary Vijay Amritraj, who strode the Indian tennis scene like a colossus for almost two decades, has become the country's top-ranked player, according to the ATP rankings released on Tuesday.
The United States-based Prakash, who won three consecutive ITF Satellite tournaments this summer, replaces Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna and is now ranked 319, with 96 points.
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'I don't think I have a weakness'He jumped an incredible 32 places in the rankings following his first round victory over Marat Safin in the $38,000 ATP event in Los Angeles.
Amritraj has a 2-4 win-loss record on the ATP Tour so far, which comes from competing in four events at Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New Port and Chennai.
Bopanna, who suffered a first round loss in the $25,000 Challenger in Denver the same week, slipped four places to 325, with 95 points.
He, however, managed win the doubles title at Denver to get a title under his belt when he paired Aisam-Ul-Haq of Pakistan to beat the American pair of Josh Goffi and Jason Marshall 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday.
Harsh Mankad is the third highest ranked Indian at 356, with 81 points. He improved by eight positions from his previous 364 after reaching the second round of the Denver event.
Leander Paes is ranked 988, with five points from one tournament played this year.
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Prakash Amritraj wins ITF title
UNI