'Great to put my name with likes of Leander Paes': Junior Wimbledon champion Samir Banerjee

Wimbledon junior champion Samir Banerjee is on cloud nine after winning the boys' singles title at the prestigious tournament in London last week. The Indian origin tennis player from New Jersey beat rival Victor Lilov 7-5, 6-3 in the final clash that lasted one hour 22 minutes at the All England Club on Sunday.

When asked about his experience of sharing the record with greats like Leander Paes, Banerjee said, "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."

He further added, "I really appreciated everyone in India who supported me throughout the tournament. I definitely have deep roots from India. My parents grew up in India. I have been to India so many times. I have played at the RK Khanna Tennis Stadium. I represent US but in a way India too."

Playing only his second junior Grand Slam, the 17-year old became the first American in 6 years to win the junior Wimbledon championship and the first Indian since Yuki Bhambri to win a junior singles title in 12 years.

Ramanathan Krishnan was the first Indian to win a junior major when he won the 1954 junior Wimbledon championship, a feat which his son Ramesh Krishnan repeated in 1970 and later Leander Paes in 1990. Ramesh Krishnan also won the junior French Open in 1970 while Paes lifted the US Open title in 1990.

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

(Edited by Rupashree Ravi)

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