Nirupama Mankad

Nirupama Mankad (née Vasant; born 17 January 1947) is a former Indian tennis player. She is the first Indian woman in the modern era to play at a main draw of a Grand Slam. She was active from 1964 to 1979 and contested 25 finals and won 18 singles titles.She was one of the torch runners in the most famous spirit of freedom video that played on Indian television in the 1980’s.

Career Nirupama Mankad is the daughter of G. Vasant, a leading tennis player in India in his time. She survives her husband, the late Ashok Mankad, a former Indian Test cricketer. Their son Harsh Mankad is an Indian Davis Cup player.

Mankad won the Asian women's tennis championship in 1965 at the age of 17. She played Wimbledon junior event in 1965 and partnered Anand Amritraj in the mixed doubles event in 1971, reaching the second round. She took part in tournaments on ILTF European Circuit when she played in Europe such as reaching the semi finals at the Ilkley Open in 1970 where she lost to Corinne Molesworth who went on to win that event. She was India's top ranked tennis player between 1965 and 1978, winning the national championship seven times during this time. She won the Indian government's Arjuna award in 1980.

Her best ranking was No 1, and was also a two-time Asian champion and a Fed Cup player.

ILTF Career finals Singles:25 (18 titles, 7 runners-up)

Doubles:19 (11 titles, 8 runners-up) OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreRunner-up 1. March 1964 Jaipur, India Hard Lakshmi Mahadevan Begum Khan Jill Rook 0–6, 1-6Runner-up 2. January 1965 Kolkata, India Hard Leela Panjabi Begum Khan Rita Suriya 2–6, 4-6Runner-up 3. January 1965 New Delhi, India Hard Leela Panjabi Marion Law Madonna Schacht 6–2, 3–6, 3-6Winner 4. January 1966 Thiruvananthapuram, India Hard Carol-Ann Prosen Rita Bentley Elizabeth Starkie 6–2, 6–4Winner 5. January 1966 Mumbai, India Hard Begum Khan Carol-Ann Prosen Sue Tutt 6–2, 1–6, 6–4Winner 6. February 1966 Hyderabad, India Hard Sue Tutt Begum Khan Carol-Ann Prosen 6–1, 6–4Winner 7. February 1966 Chennai, India Hard Dechu Appaiah Begum Khan Leela Panjabi 6–2, 6–3Winner 8. February 1966 Lucknow, India Hard Dechu Appaiah Rita Bentley Anthea Rigby 9–11, 6–4, 6–2Runner-up 9. January 1967 Calcutta, India Hard Rita Suriya Rena Abzhandadze Aleksandra Ivanova 0–6, 5–7Runner-up 10. January 1968 Bangalore, India Hard Jeroo Vakil Aleksandra Ivanova Nina Turkheli 0–6, 1–6 Runner-up 11. January 1968 Bombay, India Hard Rattan Thadani Aleksandra Ivanova Nina Turkheli 2–6, 3–6Winner 12. January 1969 Visakhapatnam, India Hard Rita Suriya Alice Tym Kiran Peshawaria 6–2, 6–1Runner-up 13. January 1970 Amritsar, India Hard Indu Sood Aleksandra Ivanova Irena Škulj 2–6, 1–6Winner 14. February 1971 Kolkata, India Hard Kiran Peshawaria Udaya Kumar Susan Das 6–1, 6–3Winner 15. March 1971 Nairobi, Kenya Clay Jenny Paterson Marianna Brummer Greta Delport 6–2, 6–2Winner 16. September 1971 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Hard Cecilie Fleming Somsri Klumsombut Phanow Sudsawadsi 7–5, 6–4Winner 17. February 1974 Chennai, India Hard Udaya Kumar Susan Das Kiran Peshawaria 6–4, 6–4Runner-up 18. September 1974 Colombo, Sri Lanka Hard Susan Das Lany Kaligis Lita Liem Sugiarto 5–7, 6–1, 1-6Winner 19. February 1978 New Delhi, India Hard Amreeta Ahluwalia Carol Draper Robin Harris 5–7, 6–2, 6–0