Anjana, A Familiar Face At The Grand Slams!
Anjana De Silva, one of the well known names in the Sri Lankan Tennis circuit as a Tournament Referee, was the only Asian Line Judge at this year's French Open Finals
If you paid close attention to the line judges at last weekend's 5 hour 29 minute long French Open Final, you may have noticed a rather familiar looking face, and in some cases, a well known one for the Tennis players in Sri Lanka because one of them was in fact, a Sri Lankan by the name of Anjana De Silva!
As we all applaud Alcaraz on winning the French Open Final, did you know that a Sri Lankan was one of the line judges?
— Akhila Seneviratne (@AkhilaSene97) June 9, 2025
Anjana De Silva is a former Tennis Player and brother of Yasitha De Silva (former National Champion) who has been a SLTA tournament referee for many yearsđź‘Ź pic.twitter.com/q7Hky7cW54
Speaking to Anjana's younger brother Yasitha, a two time National Tennis player and who found inspiration from his older brother to get into the sport, he said this is one of the proud moments in their family since being a Line Judge at a Grand Slam Final is indeed no easy feat. Notably, he was the only Asian Line Judge in the Alcaraz-Sinner showdown that lasted a record 5 hours and 29 minutes.
While Anjana's achievements have not been publicly known among the wider community, it should be noted that he has in fact been a Line Judge at the Wimbledon in 2023 and even the Olympics last year (scroll to second picture below), one which was virtually unknown unlike Yashwanth Muttettuwagama and Nelka Shiromala who got the attention from the media as Technical Officials for Basketball and Boxing respectively!
The former Anandian Tennis player turned Official at a very young age of 23 back in 2015, Anjana is a well respected SLTA Tournament Referee and with a decade of experience watching the lines, which has enabled him to gain the recognition he now has in being able to be a Line Judge at a Grand Slam Final. He also works as a Consultant at an IT Firm.
Having publicised this news by other means (Twitter and a writer's contribution to SriLankaSports.com), we did something different by highlighting the past tournament Anjana has officiated in, with picture evidence in today's 'Fact Friday' and we wish him the best of success in future tournaments!
