Stanford men’s tennis is currently ranked No. 9 in the nation. A major reason for their success is the stellar play of their number one singles player Samir Banerjee, a junior out of Laurel Springs School in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Banerjee is ranked No. 11 in the nation and absolutely shredded Florida State’s number one player Corey Craig 6-0, 6-1 who is ranked No. 14 in the nation. At the time of their match Banerjee was ranked No. 19 and Craig was ranked No. 16, so that win continues to look really good. After his and the team’s victory over the Seminoles, Banerjee was kind enough to talk with CardinalSportsReport.com about the match and how his season is going so far.
“Yeah, that feels good,” Banerjee said of his win over Craig. “It was a good match. I try not to really pay attention to rankings when I’m playing someone. I just try to come out and just play my best and yeah, I thought I played pretty close to it today. So it was good.
“Definitely my forehand [was clicking]. I thought I was able to dictate with that well. I thought I came forward well, finished at the net very well and I thought I just remained focused the entire time. Just didn’t let up. Kept my level high and I thought that was the best part.”
Something that Banerjee has been working on is being able to pounce on opponents quickly and be the first to strike all while moving well on the court. That certainly was the case against Craig, who got drubbed like a gong.
“Definitely trying to improve my first strike tennis,” Banerjee said. “Trying to serve big, hit the first ball big, work on the forehand while also trying to just become a very good mover off the ball. I think ball recognition and all these things. I think the game is just getting faster and you need to have a big forehand, you need to have a big serve in today’s game, and that’s my main focus.”
The most impressive part of Banerjee’s dominant win over Craig was the fact that after crushing him 6-0 in the first set, he didn’t let his foot off the gas and allow Craig to get back in the match. It can be easy to get complacent in a second set after winning the first so handily, but Banerjee stayed locked in and finished strong.
“Yeah, I mean, you just have to expect the guy to raise his level,” Banerjee said. “I mean, a guy like that, he’s been in a lot of these situations. After losing the first set 6-0, you know he’s gonna play better. So it’s almost you need to expect that and you need to be able to raise your level in the second set higher than what you were doing before. So, I think just recognizing that and then also keeping your foot on the gas, staying focused, not going for any silly shots. I think that’s the key.”
As a junior, Banerjee has loved his time at Stanford so far. He loves the university and he loves his teammates. Just the experience of being a student-athlete at Stanford is something that he takes a lot of pride in along with getting to be part of a team, which is kind of a unique feeling if you are a tennis player.
“I mean, the school is awesome,” Banerjee said of Stanford. “I love all my friends here. I love the environment. I love being a student-athlete here. And then just this program, this team, I think we really compete for one another out here and we really try to do our best and every day starts in practice, we just push each other and then match days we have full confidence in each other. So it’s just been, I’m a junior now. This is my third year. It’s been an awesome experience at Stanford. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
“It’s awesome playing tennis with your best friends. Nothing beats it. Obviously it’s an individual sport. Before coming to Stanford we all played individually and you know, so we’re used to that aspect, but this is a new aspect that makes it feel like you’re playing for your teammates, them egging you on, it’s a great experience and I love college tennis for that.”
One thing that has made Banerjee’s junior year special is the new indoor tennis facility that they have. The outdoor facilities are still being worked on, but now they can at least play in a spanking facility that is as good if not better than any other facility in the nation.
“Yeah, it’s awesome,” Banerjee said of the facility. “We were in west campus before this and it was fine, but it was a little grittier, it was a little tougher to get what we needed. I mean, there was still courts, but now the facility is ready and it’s really nice. I mean, it’s six indoor courts rain or shine it’s going to be here and we couldn’t be more thrilled.”
On the academic front, Banerjee is studying Science, Technology, and Society. He is really enjoying his studies and loves the fact that he’s getting a degree from a world class university while also getting the chance to prepare himself for a hopefully long career on the ATP Tour.
“I’m majoring in STS with a concentration in innovation and organization, more on the finance track,” Banerjee said of his studies. “But also, first of all, I’m just really trying to pursue tennis first and foremost and see how far I can get with that and then if tennis works out, if it doesn’t then I’ll have a good degree to fall back on.”
As he looks ahead to being a professional tennis player, something that really helps Banerjee is having world No. 100 Nishesh Basavareddy as a former teammate. They both came to The Farm at the same time and really pushed each other to be the best they can be. Banerjee feels like there’s a lot he can learn from their time together.
“Yeah, coming in with him freshman year, I mean, at such a young age he just showed such discipline, such maturity,” Banerjee said of Basavareddy. “And I think I definitely take inspiration from how he was able to come out of this program and make that jump. And I think it motivates me to kind of try to raise my level and try to replicate what he’s done. So it’s been inspiring to see that.”
Overall, Samir Banerjee is having a strong junior season and Stanford career overall. He keeps getting better and finding new ways to improve his game. It’ll be fun to see how the rest of the season goes for him and what other big wins he notches.
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