Recently, all the Indians went gaga on every social media platform for this boy. The reason for it is because of his Indian roots. Although he is an American but the way Indians celebrated his victory as he is one of our own.
He grew up in the state of New Jersey. His parents had moved to the USA in the late 1980s and now settled there. His father was born in Vizag but they were actually from Assam. His father and uncle were both into sports in their childhood but did not pursue it in the higher level. His father understand that because of their playing culture , his son got into it. Samir was interested
in many sports during his childhood but in the end it was tennis which grabbed his love and affection.
This was the first time a boy of Bengali descent has played in a Wimbledon final after more than six decades. Last time a Bengali played in a final was in 1960. Jaidip Mukerjea lost to South African Rodney Mandelstam. Last time a Bengali won the Wimbledon boy's singles championship was in 1954.
He had previously competed at the Roland Garros wherein he crashed out of the tournament in the very first round. He also reached the semi finals of boy's doubles, partnering with the Japanese Kokoro Isomura before exiting the tournament.
In road to his final, the young gun dropped just three sets in his last five matches. When asked about it, Samir told that he totally focuses on one match at a time. In an interview, he told that in the first round he was nervous and wanted to win it badly. Once he won the match, his
confidence boosted and reached the finals with huge confidence. In the finals, he faced his fellow mate/ American Victor Lilov. They both know each other very well as they train together most of the times. He defeated him 7-5,6-3. After his match, he told that both were cautious in the beginning and both were committing many errors. Gradually as the match went on , he got
more hold of it and started to gain his confidence back. This helped him to win the championship. He also appreciated the crowds in the Court 1 as it was a hostile atmosphere. He also thanked his Indian fans as well. He was grateful for their love and affection which was shown towards him.
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Although Garry O'Brien, an AITA coach and currently development officer of Bengal Tennis Association said, " You may claim his Indian origin but I think India has not contributed even 0.1 percent to all his efforts, success and growth. So, I don't think we take any credit, whatsoever. He's born and brought up and trains in the United States. Whatever he has done is outside of India. Period"
His father told that he doesn't practice in a particular training centre. One of his coaches mentioned that his strength is his backhand stroke and was neutral in his forehand. In training, he practiced a lot of forehand and not surprisingly he won most of his points in the Wimbledon through his forehand. The real strength of his game is that he comes up to the net and finish the point. Most of the teenagers remain in the baseline but he is not like them , he likes to come up to net which shows his confidence in his game.
Although his son became the Wimbledon champion but he wants his son to focus on his academic and get a degree. He also wants his son to play college tennis which is quite strong in the United States. His father fear about the financial rewards in the senior circuit unless his son plays in the Wimbledon. So, he wants his son to back it up with a degree. Even Samir echoed the same thing as his father and want to join college as of now. He is open to play ATP tour but doesn't want to fully commit to it. For now, Colombia University is waiting for Samir Banerjee.
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