She was the National Women’s Lawn Tennis Champion

Kiran acquired an interest in lawn tennis at the age of nine while watching her father, Prakash Lal Peshawaria, a tennis lover and capable player. Prakash Lal taught his daughter how to play tennis and was an important part of Kiran's tennis career. She began competing as an amateur tennis player at the age of 14, cutting her hair short since it interfered with her game. Kiran competed in her first competition outside of Amritsar in 1964, losing in the first round of the National Junior Lawn Tennis Championship at Delhi Gymkhana Club.

Despite this, she went on to win the trophy two years later, at the age of 17, with iron tenacity and a never say die mentality. She was entitled to compete in the Wimbledon Junior Championship as the National Junior Champion, but the Indian government did not nominate her. Kiran won various tennis championships between 1965 and 1978, including the Asian Lawn Tennis Championship in 1972, but her crowning triumph came in 1976 when she won the National Women's Lawn Tennis Championship. Kiran Bedi was also a member of the Indian squad that won the Lionel Fonseka Memorial Trophy in Colombo by defeating Sri Lanka. Kiran played tennis till he was 30 years old. Becoming the national women's lawn tennis champion is seen as one of the major achievements of Kiran Bedi.