Modern tennis may be widening its horizons, ranging from a record crowd exhibition match in Africa to a profitable live stream in Las Vegas. Wimbledon, however, is still its nucleus.

It also comes alive at this time of year. As the newly cut green of the All England Club, which was established in 1868, faces its toughest challenge in today's world of hard-nosed baseliners. when players change out the flamboyant clothing for spotless whites. And when a wave of nostalgia sweeps Indian tennis, bringing back memories of its glorious history, which is now dormant.

Some of the nation's top athletes in the sport accomplished their best moments at the oldest and most esteemed Grand Slam. The distinction of becoming the junior singles champion belongs to a father-son pair. Here, a youngster reached the singles quarter-final and captured the attention of the globe. Here, a fire-and-ice doubles pair scorched the competition in the men's championship. As a doubles champion, a pioneer woman made her mark on the revered Center Court.

Nevertheless, India will not have a player in the main singles draw at SW19 this year. It has been ten years since any Indian has reached the championship match in either the mixed doubles or doubles competition. It has also been ten years since an Indian youngster won the championship, regardless of gender.

India's flag at Wimbledon was once carried by generational greats such as Ramanathan Krishnan, Ramesh Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, and Sania Mirza, all of whom made an impression at what many refer to as the mecca of tennis. That flag lacks a deserving bearer in the present. Sumit Nagal, the only representative of the nation in singles, was defeated in the first round of qualifiers in this week's edition, which began on Monday.

India's former top 100 in singles and current doubles world no. 35, Yuki Bhambri, told this newspaper, "Most academies and clubs, especially in India, have a lot more hard courts now."

"It's difficult for every player to adjust to grass. Additionally, the grass courts at Wimbledon have gotten lot slower, which only makes the competition more difficult.

However, things were not always like this

Although India's participation in the competition, which started in 1877, dates back to the early 1900s, it wasn't until the 1950s that Indian athletes made it past the first round of singles. Sumant Misra advanced to the doubles quarter-finals in 1947, the same year he won his first two singles contests.

However, it was when Ramanathan Krishnan won the boys' singles championship on those grass courts in 1954 that India's flavor was genuinely and beautifully blended. The Indian was the first Asian player to accomplish the feat at the junior level, and he continued to shatter boundaries at the professional level.

Playing with wooden racquets and establishing a standard that no Indian has ever been able to match, Ramanathan, who was formerly ranked third in the world, twice reached the singles semifinal at Wimbledon in 1960 and 1961. One of Ramanathan's most unforgettable triumphs was his quarter-final victory over Australian Roy Emerson, a 12-time Grand Slam singles winner, in 1961. It would be impossible to surpass the legendary Rod Laver.

Nevertheless, Ramanathan had established a route for others to follow in the Open Era. Among them was his son Ramesh, who seven years after winning the Wimbledon junior singles title in 1979, advanced to the quarterfinal as a professional.

“I grew up surrounded by the aura of Wimbledon, with my father's accomplishments there in the background. I learned about the significance of Wimbledon at a very early age," Ramesh stated in a phone interview.

“My first trip to SW19 was fifty years ago. In that year, Arthur Ashe won the championship by surprise. I can also recall seeing the legendary Ken Rosewall compete at Wimbledon. At 40 years old, he received the second seed. Truly amazing.

Prior to Ramesh's quarter-final result in 1986, a curious 19-year-old from Chennai checked into the All England Club in a Rolls Royce, the official tournament vehicle at the time, and left as a quarter-finalist. Amritraj cruised through the draw and into the last eight in 1973, displaying a powerful serve and a grass-friendly manner. In 1981, Jimmy Connors would stop Amritraj from performing the run again.

Two outstanding doubles players formed a dazzling duo and carried on India's Wimbledon streak into the next decade.

Though Paes and Bhupathi experienced periods of highs and lows, friendship and conflict, their fireworks at the 1999 Wimbledon were unmatched. The Indian pair also dazzled on the grass courts of London with their diverse styles and demeanors, having just won their doubles victory on Parisian clay. Together, they made a heady mix that stunned Wimbledon: one was a net wizard, the other a baseline beast. There, Bhupathi won two additional championships in mixed doubles. Two of the four additional ones Paes took were with Martina Navratilova and Martina Hingis.

One of Sania's most treasured memories, along with being the only Indian woman to regularly complete Slam runs in both singles and doubles, was sharing the Wimbledon championship for women's doubles with Hingis in 2015.

It should be noted that the last time an Indian won a title at Wimbledon was ten years ago, when Sania and Paes did so. Since then, the tennis in the nation has plummeted.

As a result, Ramesh's favorite Wimbledon anecdote from his playing days and Indian tennis' heyday is nearly perfect: "We had reached Southfields tube station and asked someone, 'How do we get to Wimbledon?' And he replied, 'Practice, mate, practice'."

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