KOLKATA: Naresh Kumar, who famously mentored a young Leander Paes as India’s Davis Cup captain, has passed away. He was 93. He is survived by his wife Sunita, son Arjun, and two daughters — Gita and Preah.
“He was suffering from age-related issues since last week. I was told that his chance of survival was not very good. I’ve lost a great mentor,” Jaidip Mukerjea, who made his Davis Cup debut under the Kumar’s captaincy, told PTI.
Born on December 22, 1928 in Lahore in the undivided India, Kumar began his journey with tennis at the Asian Championships in 1949 before ruling the Indian tennis along with Ramanathan Krishnan for close to a decade in the 1950s.
His Davis Cup journey started in 1952 and went on to captain the side.
Three years later his biggest career high came when he made the fourth round of Wimbledon in 1955 before losing to the eventual champion and American No. 1 Tony Trabert.
As an amateur, Naresh Kumar has played a record number of 101 Wimbledon matches.
