Arvind is currently 28, the 6ft 4in right-hander has been characterised for his booming 1st serve and big forehand.

Arvind enjoyed a successful junior career, reaching the finals of several ITF junior events and beating former world junior no 1 Thomas Catar. In 1996, he finished runner-up in junior Queens and the same year he won the U18 national championships and made his first inroads on the senior tour, making the semis of a satellite in Telford.

He turned pro in 1997 and enjoyed immediate success, doing well in satellites in GB and the USA. He was also a member of the GB team which won the European team championships that year. In 1998 he made his Davis Cup debut against the Ukraine but didn't play a rubber. 1999 was his breakthrough year; he qualified for ATP Queens losing in rd1 and then qualified for Wimbledon where he beat Albert Costa in rd1 before losing to Greg Rusedski in rd2. He won his first 25K challenger in the USA and also enjoyed further success on the grass, making the quarters in Bristol. He narrowly missed out on making the main draw of the US Open, losing in the final qualifying round.

2000 was arguably the best year of Arvind's career. He opened by qualifying for the Aussie Open and then took Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui to 5 sets in rd1, he was 2 sets to one up but succombed to cramp. He was selected in the Davis Cup squad for the tie on clay in which Henman competed against the Czech Republic but didn't play a rubber. Arvind continued his form, reaching finals of two 50Ks in Japan and a 15k in Britain. He qualified for Queens again and beat 1998 champion Scott Draper in 3 sets in rd1 and then was a set and a break up against world no 1 and defending champion Pete Sampras in rd2. Sampras hit back and won 6-4 in the 3rd but had been pushed extremely close. Arvind then knocked out top 5 player Cedric Pioline in straight sets in rd1 of ATP Nottingham and proceeded to reach the quarters before losing to Byron Black. At Wimbledon, he won a dramatic 5 set marathon against Andre Sa in rd1 before falling in Marc Rosset in rd2. He was picked for GB to play Ecuador and made his debut but lost in 5 sets in both singles and doubles. He qualified for TMS Toronto and took Pat Rafter to 3 sets in rd1 and then made the quarters of the Manchester challenger before a neck injury caused him to retire. A hip injury curtailed his season in September and he was forced to have an operation.

In 2001, Arvind took a set off Rusedski at Queens and then won another marathon 5 setter over Sa at Wimbledon before falling to Kafelnikov in 4 sets in rd2. He reached rd2 of ATP Nottingham. He had his best ever performance at the national championships, making the semis before losing to Bogdanovic. His year was again curtailed by injury. This time, tendonitis in the knee caused him to take 6 weeks off.

In 2002, Arvind lost in rd1 of Queens and Wimbledon to Rosset and Enqvist. He reached the quarters of Nottingham again, beating Nieminen and Kiefer before losing to Arthurs in 3 sets. In challengers, he reached 2 finals and a semi but that was mixed in with a lot of early losses.

He opened 2003 by qualifying for ATP Adelaide and beat Harel Levy in rd1 before losing to Vliegen. At Queens, he was beaten by the "next great hope," Bogdanovic in 3 sets in rd1. At Nottingham he beat Paul Henri-Matheiu in straights in rd1 before losing to eventual champion Bjorkman. At Wimbledon he was unfortunate to be drawn against eventual quarter-finalist Schalken in rd1. In the challengers he won a title in Denver, made a final in Wolfsburg and reached another semi in Binghamton. It was a mixed year, as he had those successes but also a string of rd1 defeats. He qualified for ATP Basel but lost to Novak in 3 sets in rd1.

2004 was one of Arvind's best years on the challenger circuit. He won a title in Ho Chi Minh and made 2 semis and 3 quarters, all indoors. On the grass, he lost surprisingly to Canada's Frank Dancevic in 3 sets in rd1 of Queens and in 3 tiebreaks to his nemisis Elseneer in rd1 of Wimbledon. At Nottingham, he came back from losing the first set 6-1 to shock Malisse but lost in rd2 to Hanescu. He started going for a lot more ATP qualies, beating Stepanek and Levy to make the Cincinatti main draw before losing to Moya in 3 sets in rd1. He also qualified for ATP Bejing and ATP Bangkok but lost in rd1 both times to Okun and Roddick.

2005 was the first time since 1998 in which Arvind didn't play in either Queens or Wimbledon. He lost in qualifying for both. He was more consistent in the challengers though, reaching a semi and 8 quarters beating players like Norman, Santoro, Sherwood.

The big highlights of 2006 were making the quarters of ATP Rotterdam with that fantastic win over Srichaphan and also getting his first Davis Cup victory.


Arvind has many nicknames: The "Hitchin hurricane," Big Arv, Arvy P etc.

These are his answers from a Q&A the LTA did with him:

Mothers name: Daljeet
Fathers name: Harwail
Brothers or sisters: Two sisters, Monika and Veena
School: Hitchin Boys, Hitchin
Other sports played: golf
Currently coached by: James Trotman, based at Queen’s club
Free Time: Enjoy chilling out, watching movies, playing golf, and playing the drums
Favourite film: Stand by Me
Favourite CD: Kasabian
Favourite food: Steak
Favourite drink: Cold coke
Favourite fashion label/brand:Diesel
Style icon: David Beckham although wouldn’t wear some of the clothes does, like a casual look.
Most like to have a one to one with: Richard Branson
Any bizarre different rituals: don’t walk on lines
Are you superstitious on court: Hold the racket on the same side of the racket grip; also believe what goes around comes around.
Best place you have ever played: New Caledonia- lovely setting, near the beach and hotels.
Best looking player on the tour: Dementieva
Most like to play mixed doubles with: Dementieva

Well done for setting up this thread, David.

Perhaps Arv's a bit too nice - I remember when he was being interviewed after his Rotterdam exploits and the interviewer was trying to talk him up, he seemed almost embarrassed to have done well - you probably need a bit more arrogance and belief in yourself to really scale the heights.

Still, if he is retiring now, it's nice that he got a bit of a run in an ATP event and his first DC win this year, and frustrating as it was to follow him at times, he was in the GB top 5 for quite a while, whether you think that's saying much or not.

Reports on some of the biggest moments of Arvind's career:

Parmar bt C Pioline [Fr][1] 7-5, 7-6 - ATP Nottingham 2000 rd1:

British number four Arvind Parmar continued his Wimbledon preparations in fine style, with a momentus victory over Cedric Pioline.

The 22-year-old sent reigning champion Pioline tumbling out on the first day of the Nottingham Open. Parmar won 7-5 7-6 (7/3) as the Frenchman, who has won £4m in his career, found little answer to his opponent's big serve.

Pioline came into the event as the number one seed and was expected to proceed comfortably at the expense of Parmar, who was a wild card entry.

But Parmar, who has been based at the Nottingham Centre the past six years, showed how much is at home here and won in 90 minutes.

He proved last week how much he is improving by taking a set off Pete Sampras at the Stella Artois Championship before losing.

On a sun-baked centre court, Parmar soon took control against Pioline, who has a chequered history at the tournament.

He defaulted two years ago after swearing at the umpire before returning to win the title last year.

Parmar admitted that his display against Sampras last week had given him a huge lift.

"I took a lot of confidence from that after giving him a run of his money," he said.

"My game is based on serve and forehand and I knew I had to be aggressive against Pioline.

"I knew I had to play my own game against him. I'm glad it worked out and I'm delighted with the victory."

ATP Queens 2000 rd1: Parmar bt S Draper [Aus] 7-6, 2-6, 6-1

British hope Arvind Parmar has set up a mouth-watering clash with Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras after a superb win over Scott Draper in the first round of the Stella Artois Championships.

British number four Parmar defeated the left-handed Australian in three sets 7-6 2-6 6-0 at Queen's club on Monday.

The 22-year-old from Hitchin won a tight first set on the tie-break but looked in real trouble when Draper, who won his only career singles title here in 1998, raised his game to storm through the second set 6-2.

But Parmar, who received a wild card into the tournament, responded in kind in the decider and cruised through that 6-0 in stunning fashion as Draper took out his frustrations on his racket, slamming it into the lush grass.

"I came into it knowing I had a good chance," said Parmar.

"Scott has not been playing great recently, and it was a good opportunity to get a good win.

"The second set began with a terrible first game which set the tone for the rest of the set, and I was happy to get that out of the way and start fresh.

"Then I was 0-40 down in my first service game but took it one point at a time and I'm delighted.

"I had a good start to the year in Australia and playing well out in Asia, and that has given me a lot of confidence to go out there with nothing to lose and give it my best shot."

Parmar, who qualified for Wimbledon last year before losing in the second round to Greg Rusedski, now faces six-time Wimbledon champ Sampras in the second round.

The second-seeded American received a first-round bye.

"I've heard he's pretty useful," Parmar joked.

"But I'm going to go out there and enjoy it. This is why I play the game."

Greenleaf wrote:

---

Parmar is playing inter club tennis in France. That means that he is fit enough to play tennis, but isn't playing professionally any more.

---

Where did you read that ?

Arvind's probably fit enough to play pro tennis but I think he's realised that he isn't going to make his goal of the top 100 and so has decided to call it a day. He's been having more and more injuries over the last few years and after a decade of constant travelling all over the world I guess he's quite sick of that ! Maybe things have also been difficult financially aswell now that the grass court season wildcards have dried up.

I suspect he's playing club tennis while weighing up his options on which avenue to pursue next. He's got several choices