Wimbledon Junior Champion 2021: Indian-American tennis player Samir Banerjee created history on Sunday by winning the Junior Championships title at Wimbledon. 17-year-old Samir Banerjee defeated compatriot Viktor Lilov 7-5, 6-3 in the final that lasted one hour and 22 minutes. Sameer Banerjee's father Kunal Banerjee spoke to ABP Live from New Jersey. He said, "If given a chance, Sameer wants to talk to Indian tennis legend Leander Paes." Leander also won the Junior Wimbledon championship title in singles at the beginning of his career.
Kunal Banerjee said, "I am very happy that people in India are so happy about Sameer's victory. As a child, Sameer was fond of playing football and baseball along with tennis. When some of my friends saw Sameer playing in the tennis club, they advised him to enter a good tennis academy. This is how his career in tennis began."
Started at the age of five
Kunal Banerjee said that just at the age of 5, Sameer started training at the Center Court Tennis Academy in New Jersey. After winning several tournaments one after the other in the sub-junior event, in 2017, Sameer Banerjee won the title of Under 14 Winter Championship in America. Apart from this, he has also trained continuously in Florida and Frankfurt to improve his game.
Sameer has also played in an ITF tournament in Delhi two years back. Many relatives of Sameer live in Kolkata. Sameer had also practiced for a few days in the famous South Club located here 6 years ago.
On ABP Live, Kunal Banerjee said, "About 35 years ago I came to the US. As a child, I lived in Dibrugarh, Assam, where my father worked in Oil India Limited. After that I studied in IIT Mumbai and came to America."
Samir Banerjee likely to be included in top-10 in junior ranking
Before the start of Wimbledon, Samir Banerjee was at number 19 in the ITF's ranking of junior players, but after this victory, he can be included in the top-10 junior players in the world. Also, Sameer is now eyeing the qualifying tournaments of the senior event. It is most important for Sameer to win the title of the National Hardcourt Tournament in America. If a player wins this tournament, the player gets a wild card entry to play in the US Open.