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Who was the first Indian player to win a Grand Slam title in tennis?

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Answer: Option A — Mahesh Bhupathi

Detailed Solution

Mahesh Bhupathi became the first Indian to win a Grand Slam tennis title when he won the mixed doubles title at the 1997 French Open, partnering Rika Hiraki of Japan.

More about Mahesh Bhupathi:

He was born on 7 June 1974 in Chennai and grew up in Bengaluru.

He went on to win 12 Grand Slam titles: 4 in men's doubles and 8 in mixed doubles. He completed a "career Grand Slam" in mixed doubles by winning all four major titles.

With Leander Paes, he formed one of the best doubles pairs in tennis history, the "Indian Express".

In 1999, Bhupathi and Paes reached the finals of all four Grand Slam men's doubles events, winning the French Open and Wimbledon. They became world number one as a pair that year.

He received the Padma Shri in 2001 and the Arjuna Award.

He later founded a sports management company and a tennis league, and he captained India's Davis Cup team.

Other Indian Grand Slam champions:

  • Leander Paes: 18 Grand Slam titles (8 men's doubles and 10 mixed doubles), and an Olympic bronze in 1996.
  • Sania Mirza: the first Indian woman to win a Grand Slam title (2009 Australian Open mixed doubles, with Bhupathi); she won 6 Grand Slam titles.
  • Rohan Bopanna: won the 2017 French Open mixed doubles and the 2024 Australian Open men's doubles.
  • No Indian has won a Grand Slam singles title in the Open Era.

Earlier Indian tennis greats:

  • Ramanathan Krishnan reached the Wimbledon singles semi-finals in 1960 and 1961.
  • Vijay Amritraj reached the Wimbledon and US Open quarter-finals several times.
  • The four Grand Slam tournaments are the Australian Open (hard court), the French Open (clay), Wimbledon (grass) and the US Open (hard court).

Why not the other options?

  • ✗Leander Paes won his first Grand Slam title in 1999, after Bhupathi.
  • ✗Sania Mirza won her first Grand Slam title in 2009.
  • ✗Ramanathan Krishnan reached Wimbledon semi-finals but did not win a senior Grand Slam title.

Quick tip

Remember: First Indian Grand Slam winner = Mahesh Bhupathi (1997 French Open mixed doubles with Rika Hiraki); first Indian woman = Sania Mirza (2009).

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Sports — Preparation

This question tests your understanding of Sports, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.

This topic covers sports GK: major tournaments and their venues, trophies and cups associated with each sport, sports terms, the number of players in a team, sports awards in India, Olympic and Asian Games facts, and famous sportspersons and their achievements. Common questions ask which sport a trophy belongs to (such as the Durand Cup for football or the Ranji Trophy for cricket), which term is used in which sport, and where a tournament was held. Records and results change after every season, so pair static facts such as team sizes and terms with recent results from current affairs. Practise the sports questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.

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