For his final project in Stats 100: Mathematics of Sports, Samir Banerjee built an algorithm to analyze years of tennis serve data across different surfaces to determine which players were most successful.
“I did a pretty deep dive into serving stats,” said Banerjee, a science, technology, and society (STS) major and ITA All-American who helped lead the Stanford men’s tennis team to an ACC championship in 2025. “And I realized if I was serving above 60 percent on first serves in every match, I would put myself in a pretty good position to win.”
The bonds built with teammates through practices, road trips, and everyday moments are what Banerjee said he’ll miss most about Stanford.
A two-time All-Pac-12 first-team selection, Banerjee finished his Stanford career with 27 ranked singles wins.
The men’s tennis player plans to return to the professional circuit this fall after training in Florida.
Banerjee studied at the Huang Engineering Center. Balancing academics and athletics taught him, he said, "what it means to work very hard."
A statistics class with lecturer Gene Kim sparked a deep dive into serve analytics that shaped how Banerjee approached his own game.
Banerjee said his Kappa Alpha brothers became some of his closest friends at Stanford.
“Something I’ve learned here is that you really need to be the person pushing yourself,” Banerjee said of his time at Stanford.
The New Jersey native started playing tennis with his dad at age 6; by 12, he’d chosen it over the other sports he played growing up. He went on to win Junior Wimbledon, reaching No. 2 in the junior world rankings, and completed high school online to accommodate travel to international tournaments. “I was kind of in a bubble where I interacted mostly with coaches and other players,” he said. “I really enjoyed it, but there was an opportunity cost – I didn’t have a prom, I didn’t get to hang out with my friends senior year.”
He came to Stanford with the goal of becoming a professional tennis player, and also of taking advantage of everything the campus had to offer academically and socially. He built his major around computer science, statistics, management science and engineering, and humanities courses that pushed him to think more broadly, and made some of his best friends through the Kappa Alpha fraternity.
Playing for a team after years of competing individually also pushed him in ways he hadn’t anticipated. “There’s a mindset shift that needs to happen, where you need to put the team’s objective over your own personal goals,” he said. “That’s where a lot of growth happened for me. You’re not just playing for yourself, you’re playing for everyone who cares about the program.”
Banerjee, who plans to return to the professional circuit, said he knew Stanford would provide a rigorous training ground, both on the court and in the classroom. What surprised him was the warmth of the campus environment. “I thought coming in I’d be on my own, but I didn’t take into account how collaborative this environment is,” he said. “Being a student-athlete at Stanford is a special experience. It’s such a tight-knit community, and everyone is so supportive. It’s really shaped me as a person, and I am fortunate I've been able to be a part of it.”
Writer
Rebecca Beyer