Mythbusters Washed Up at 19? Not This Guy By Ricky Becker
“I could have had it all. So many doors were open to me and I blew it. I hope I didn’t mess up my life forever.” This is something that middleaged people might say aloud. But I wasn’t walking and talking with an adult my age. I was with a 19-year old who was a top-nationally ranked tennis player who hadn’t even stepped onto a college campus yet. The cycle of a top national junior tennis player from Long Island usually follows a straightforward path. It goes like this: Earn a high national ranking and either get a college scholarship or go to a very strong academic school; sometimes even go professional early. After that phase ends, the player “gets a real job” and either lives in New York City or the home state of where they went to college. Or the player might go back into tennis in some capacity. Kabir Rajpal had these doors open to him, made some mistakes, has owned up to these mistakes and is ready to make amends. Mainly, make amends to himself. I knew Kabir a little bit ten years ago when he was nine-years-old. He 46
Kabir Rajpal
took lessons on the court next to where I was teaching. We would sometimes joke around with his coach. I knew him as a good kid who had a lot of talent. We went separate ways but I came across his success in different ways through Long Island Tennis Magazine, Newsday, and feature articles in the Jericho-Syosset Tribune. Kabir reached the top ten nationally on TennisRecruiting.net, won national level tournaments and went undefeated on Long Island in two years of high school tennis. One night during the week while watching an Islanders game in March, a mutual friend called me from Lifetime gym. “Yo, Ricky! A buddy of mine wants
Long Island Tennis Magazine • July/August 2021 • LITennisMag.com
to teach for you this summer at Pine Hollow. He’s a D1 player. His name is Kabir Rajpal. He’s ready to start now. He’s working at Chipotle but he wants to go out and teach so he can make more money.” I replied, “Kabir Rajpal!?” But in my mind, I was thinking, “What’s this backstory?” I mean we are talking about a 19-year old kid who was a local tennis star, has his life ahead of him and is working out not with a college team at a worldclass facility, but at Lifetime gym. Not playing college or money tournaments, but working at Chipotle. I’m not going to lie. When I spoke to Kabir, I was a little taken aback. We hadn’t spoken in about ten years and this was kind of a like a job interview. We are talking an expletive every 20 seconds and him trashing a previous supervisor. His past experience didn’t completely connect. I got this all within the first three minutes of talking. Not exactly who one would hire to teach at a high-end country club. I don’t think he read too many job interview books. The first time I unexpectedly ran into him after our conversation, Kabir looked at the guy he was with and whispered, “Who the hell is this guy? I have no clue.” Maybe his playing credentials and
