Wimbledon boys champion Samir Banerjee proud to see his name featured along with legends of Indian tennis

Playing only his second junior Grand Slam, 17-year-old beat compatriot Victor Lilov 7-5, 6-3 in the final that lasted in one hour 22 minutes to join a unique list of Indian players to win the Wimbledon junior singles title.

Yuki Bhambri was the last Indian to win a junior singles title when he triumphed at the Australian Open in 2009 while Sumit Nagal won the Wimbledon boys’ doubles event in 2015 with Vietnam’s Ly Hoang Nam.

Ramanathan Krishnan was the first Indian to win a junior major when he won the 1954 Junior Wimbledon championship. His son Ramesh Krishnan won the 1970 junior Wimbledon and junior French Open titles while Paes won the 1990 junior Wimbledon and junior US Open. Paes was also a runner-up at the junior Australian Open.

“Great to put my name with the likes of Leander Paes. I came to know that he has also won the boys singles title at the Wimbledon. Long run, I would love to compete in the pro tournament and hopefully win it,” Samir Banerjee was quoted as saying by India Today.

Indian-origin Samir Banerjee lifts Wimbledon boys singles title

Legendary Indian tennis player Vijay Amritraj was among those congratulated Samit on his feat.

“Wonderful win for Indian American 17 yr old Samir Bannerjee in the boys singles at Wimbledon 2021. Wish him well for a great future,” the 67-year old who reached singles quarterfinals at Wimbledon and US Open tweeted.

Samir’s father Kunal was born in Assam, and his mother Usha was brought up in Andhra Pradesh, before they both migrated to the USA in the mid-1980s and got married there.

The youngster, reportedly, will take a break from the tour to enrol for a degree in either economics or political science at the Columbia University in the coming months.

“It’s going to be amazing, this trophy is going to be my centrepiece, I’m going to look at this and be inspired to keep playing and hopefully come back here as a pro,” Samit had told the Wimbledon website immediately after his win.