Indian-origin Samir Banerjee lifts Wimbledon boys singles title with straight set win over US compatriot

By PTI

LONDON: American tennis player of Indian-origin Samir Banerjee on Sunday lifted the Wimbledon boys singles title with a straight set win over compatriot Victor Lilov, here.

Playing only his second junior Grand Slam, 17-year-old won 7-5 6-3 in the final that lasted in one hour 22 minutes.

Banerjee’s parents had moved to America in 1980s.

At the junior French Open, Banerjee, ranked 19 in the world, had crashed out in the first round.

India has been struggling to field a worthy contender at junior Grand Slams for some time now.

Due to lack of a robust domestic circuit and not having enough competitions at home to earn world ranking points, India has been struggling to create the next crop of youngsters.

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 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 Leander Paes won the 1990 junior Wimbledon and junior US Open.

Paes was also a runner-up at the junior Australian Open.