Wimbledon 2021

[arjun2761]

Awesome result for young Samir. I think Telegu is what he speaks because his mother is from Andhra.

I think he has the talent to go straight to the pros but he may have to battle his family which may want the safer path (career wise) of going to Columbia...

[gbelday]

Columbia recruited pretty good this year. Hashimoto, Samir, Westphal (top 50). It’s a good team and they have great athletic facilities. Hopefully Samir doesn’t stay long and goes pro after a year or so in college. He has the game tennis wise. Just got to work on making that body ready for the pros!

[arjun2761]

Agree on the physical fitness part which these days includes optimal nutrition. If he hasn't worked on it much yet, then he could have the Yuki issues unless he has hit the genetic lottery on fitness....

[prasen9]

Samir's mother speaks to him in Telugu. Article. He has been in Kolkata several times and said, "So yeah, I do have roots in Calcutta and it’s obviously a good part of this success", which seems to be diplomatic speak to make people/his interviewer happy? More at: Banerjee and Kolkata.

[suresh]

Samir has de-committed from Columbia and has verbally accepted to go to Stanford. This is a good move!

[Sanjay]

Great decision by Samir!
I always used to wonder why he didn't go to Stanford, he was ranked No 3 as a recruit and being Indian, I am sure his grades were good .

Coincidentally, my son is applying to college and I am reviewing his essays for Stanford.

Samir has de-committed from Columbia and has verbally accepted to go to Stanford. This is a good move!

[prasen9]

Samir has de-committed from Columbia and has verbally accepted to go to Stanford. This is a good move!

Absolutely! Being quite non-partisan on this issue of Columbia vs. Stanford, I heartily endorse this move.

[PKBasu]

Is this allowed? I recall from my grad school (and my daughter's undergrad) application process that you had to choose one school (if you received multiple admissions) and say No to the others. You weren't expected to serially say Yes to one after another...

[prasen9]

I think this early it was a verbal or a soft commitment. Not a fully signed agreement. If he had signed, then he had to get a written agreement releasing him from his commitment. Coaches often give that if it is early enough because they do not want a disgruntled player. Furthermore, the rules are different for UG and grad school and NCAA players have some additional restrictions. But, the bottom-line is as I said above for UG.

[gbelday]

Is this allowed? I recall from my grad school (and my daughter's undergrad) application process that you had to choose one school (if you received multiple admissions) and say No to the others. You weren't expected to serially say Yes to one after another...

Yes, it’s a non-binding verbal agreement. The coaches are also known to drop players that they make verbal offers to. Nov 10, I think, is when the players sign the NLI (National Letter of Intent) and it becomes a binding agreement after that.

What is the National Letter of Intent (NLI)?
The NLI is a binding agreement between a prospective student-athlete and an NLI member institution.
• Prospective student-athlete agrees to attend the institution full-time for one academic year (two semesters or three quarters).
• Institution agrees to provide athletics financial aid for one academic year (two semesters or three quarters).

Penalty for not fulfilling the NLI agreement: Serve one year in residence (full-time two semesters or three quarters) at the next NLI member institution and lose one season of competition in all sports.

[Kumar]

Just curious, considering he just won jr Wimbledon, why is he playing college tennis? Does it make lot of economic sense? Is he still eligible to play jr ranks next year?

[gbelday]

I am not sure but he may decide to go pro after spending some time in college. He is 2003 born, so no more juniors after this year. I was hoping to see him play pro events this year but he skipped them all.

[vparam]

I am not sure but he may decide to go pro after spending some time in college. He is 2003 born, so no more juniors after this year. I was hoping to see him play pro events this year but he skipped them all.

That’s not true. He is technically eligible to play juniors until September of 2022 as he only turns 19 in October. He may decide he is finished with juniors after this year but he is still eligible to play after this year.

[prasen9]

Just curious, considering he just won jr Wimbledon, why is he playing college tennis? Does it make lot of economic sense? Is he still eligible to play jr ranks next year?

Jr. winners do not always make it big. Maybe he thinks he needs a bit more maturing. Being Indian origin, maybe it is a foot in the door for him into some of the elite institutions where can can return in the future to complete a degree to pursue life after tennis.

[PKBasu]

So is he still in high school, and will only join Stanford next Fall? I thought he had joined Columbia last month, but perhaps that isn't true...