Kunj Majmudar '99 began his tennis career at age 6, but "it wasn't until later that I fell in love with the sport. When I turned 15 I had a really good year. It inspired me to play more and work harder. I saw my practices finally paying off. Photo by Kris Snibbe.

It's no great surprise that senior Kunj Majmudar grew up to become one of the nation's leading college tennis players. Nor is it surprising that come June he will graduate with an honors degree in engineering sciences and an impressive 3.5 G.P.A. It's only natural, in fact, since pretty much everyone else in the family did the same.

The youngest of four children, Kunj Majmudar was raised in Staten Island, N.Y. His father, a civil engineer who had played a little tennis in India -- the family's home before moving to the United States in 1968 -- became enamored with the sport in New York, where it was infinitely more accessible than it had been back home. He was quick to get his kids involved, going so far as to build a "tennis wall" in the basement of their home where the children could practice their shots.

After toddling around the courts for a few years, young Kunj picked up a racket, and at age 6 began his tennis career. By the age of 9, he was ranked 4th in the region for his age group and was garnering enough accolades to motivate him to continue.

"It wasn't until later that I fell in love with the sport," remembers the 22-year-old, whose lean six-foot-one- inch frame conveys the grace of an athlete who has spent his life perfecting the nuances of movement and speed.

"When I turned 15 I had a really good year," Majmudar recalls. "It inspired me to play more and work harder. I saw my practices finally paying off."

By the time he was a senior in high school, the payoff included #1 ranking in the Eastern Tennis Association Junior category and 20th in the United States.

As one of the top recruits in the country, he had some hard decisions to make about school. All three of his sisters had played tennis in college -- two at Harvard and one at Columbia -- and each of them had excelled. As it turned out, Majmudar narrowed his choices down to these two schools, knowing that he wanted to pursue his tennis career in a challenging academic environment. He also knew, like two of his sisters and his father before them, that he wanted to become an engineer.

Deciding between Columbia and Harvard was no easy task. He knew the coach at Columbia well and also knew he would be a star player on their team. Harvard had a much stronger team, and he wasn't sure how he would fare amidst so many good players.

"In the end I chose Harvard because I knew it would be good for my game to not be the top player. I didn't care too much about being a star. I was looking more at the team and what I could gain from being a part of it."

Though it took him a while to get used to the team dynamics (having his teammates cheer him on, for example) Majmudar soon began to enjoy tennis as he never had before, due largely to the camaraderie and support among teammates. Of course, it also helped to have big sister, Gina Majmudar '97, out on the courts to help him find his way.

During his first year, Majmudar's game improved as he played his way into the #5 singles spot. He has moved up in the ranks since then to become a star player once again, but in a much larger field.

Last season he was voted EITA (Eastern Intercollegiate Tennis Association) Sportsman of the Year and was nominated by his teammates as co-captain of this year's team. This past summer he was invited to participate in the prestigious Prentice Cup for which three Harvard and three Yale tennis players are chosen to play throughout England and Ireland, ending in an exciting tournament against Oxford and Cambridge at Wimbledon. This year he joined ranks with sophomore teammate James Blake (ranked #1 in the country) to earn the #2 doubles ranking nationally. At present Majmudar is ranked #50 in the country.

"He is a remarkable person. And his manners on the court are impeccable," says Coach Dave Fish, who nominated Majmudar for the national Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship and Leadership Award. However, Fish adds, he is also a tough competitor. "I call him the laser. His power of concentration is amazing. It's almost as if he plays in the spirit of non-attachment. Especially toward the end of a match, if he misses a point, you'll see a look of mild disappointment on his face, but then he just moves on. He's a finisher, very hard to beat."

With graduation on the horizon, Majmudar has turned his sights to the future, to finishing a college career that in his words "went by a little too quickly." He'd like to try the pro circuit, and is looking forward to all of the traveling it entails. He'll give it a year or two, he says, and then head into the other family trade and become an engineer.