A little more than three years ago, Hunter Bajoit made a bold proclamation to Southwestern Head Tennis Coach Billy Porter on an official recruiting visit before joining the team.
"He looked at me and said his goal was to play No. 1," Porter recalled at the end of Bajoit's first season. "I laughed [because he knew] we had an All-American [Alexis Dimanche] returning, but he surprised me."
When Bajoit was elevated to the top singles position late into this past season, the junior from The Woodlands, Texas, did more than making line-one his own; he put together a single-season résumé that cements his position among the program's all-time greats.
With a 12-2 individual record, Bajoit helped lead the Pirates to a 15-3 record and the first NCAA Tournament bid in Southwestern men's tennis history. In the process, he was named the 2021 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Co-Player of the Year and qualified for his first NCAA Individual Championships. In addition, Bajoit finished the year the No. 3-ranked singles player in the West Region and a program-best No. 17 in the nation, becoming the second All-American in Southwestern men's tennis history.
Bajoit has also made history as the program's first Dr. Tex Kassen Southwestern Men's Athlete of the Year for all his season's accomplishments.
"It was a banner season for the men's and women's tennis programs, and although this is an award that recognizes individual accomplishments, it carries that much more weight when accompanied by unprecedented team success," Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Glenn Schwab says. "In a year in which many of our male student-athletes set new program records, led the nation in various statistical categories, and finished among the conference leaders at their positions, Hunter's season stood out."
Bajoit has long been a solid fixture in the Southwestern lineup, quickly taking the No. 2 spot in his first year after a strong ITA Regional in the fall of 2018, advancing to the semifinals and opening the spring ranked No. 10 in the region. With Dimanche as the No. 1 in singles, Bajoit compiled a 22-5 record in his first two years in No. 2 singles, including a 5-1 record during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, with one win in one attempt from the top line. In doubles, he went a combined 17-10.
With his quick ascent, earning SCAC Newcomer of the Year and All-SCAC First Team in 2019, Bajoit seemed to be the natural heir apparent to Dimanche, the program's all-time leader in career wins. However, when the 2021 season started, Bajoit was still firmly entrenched at No. 2 singles behind Vesko Lekovic.
"He started his career playing No. 2, and he's had an enormous amount of success as a freshman and sophomore with the national schedule we'd played," Porter explains. "We thought that would be a position he'd succeed at, which he did. And with the progression we saw with Vesko throughout the summer, beating everyone, we just felt his game was ready."
The lack of immediate promotion wasn't just about giving another player an opportunity, however. Instead, delaying Bajoit's move to the No. 1 spot was a calculated decision by Porter to impart a lesson in sacrifice and leadership.
"He has a long way to go in terms of growth, maturity, and discipline, but overall he was a nice surprise for us in singles," Porter said after Bajoit's first season. "I'm very excited to see where the next few years take him."
Bajoit showcased both his immense talent and relative immaturity during the 2019 Fall ITA Regionals. As a sophomore, Bajoit teamed with Hemanshu Rambojun to advance to the Regional championship match, defeating Trinity's No. 1 seed of Jordan Pitts and Cameron Krimbill in the semifinals and Trinity's Hao Nguyen and Christian Settles before that.
In the finals, Bajoit suffered a soul-searching defeat to McMurry's Carlos Martinez and Chase Daniell. Porter believes it was a turning point for Bajoit.
"After he lost in the regional finals, Hunter hit rock bottom. We had some issues with him going against the game plan we laid out," Porter says. "Ever since then, he's come full circle and really started to buy in."
When Dimanche graduated, Porter didn't immediately make Bajoit the captain although he was arguably the team's best player.
"I think a lot of his teammates expected him to be [named team captain], including himself," Porter recalls. "I made him wait for it. I wanted him to step up and prove he deserved it, and I think him having to wait a couple of months expedited his growth process as well."
Bajoit never lost the confidence of his younger self, who believed he could immediately unseat an All-American from his perch, but he did gain perspective.
"When I said that, I really believed I could play Line 1. Once I was on the team, I realized I was much better off at No. 2, scoring a point almost every single match," Bajoit says. "I felt very confident at No. 1. I was just happy to play and earn points for my team because every point counts the same."
Bajoit dutifully played at No. 2, winning his first 12 matches, including a 6-1, 6-3 victory against Juan Viada of Prairie View A&M, helping Southwestern men's tennis earn its first victory over an NCAA Division I program and earning SCAC Player of the Week. He also teamed up with Lekovic to post a 16-1 record in doubles, including 14-1 in the No. 2 spot to earn All-SCAC First Team as a duo.
"His real emergence came in doubles," Porter exclaims. "He went to regional finals his sophomore year, and for him to go 16-1 with a different partner in a different role shows the type of team player he is. He's a rock for us and got points when we needed him."
As the end of the season approached, Porter felt it was time to make the move Bajoit predicted before his collegiate career began, starting him at No. 1 against Trinity University and Krimbill in the last match of the regular season. Bajoit opened the match with his second career doubles victory over Krimbill, teaming with Lekovic to best Krimbill and doubles partner Alessio Azzalini. However, Bajoit's first singles match against Krimbill caught him by surprise, losing 6-4, 6-1.
"That's a tough match-up. I hadn't lost all season going into that first match-up, and I knew going in, he was going to keep every ball in play," Bajoit recalls. "He hit it a little harder and deeper than I thought he was going to."
Given two weeks to prepare specifically for Krimbill, Bajoit devoured film from their first meeting and developed a game plan.
"It was extremely helpful to play him during the regular season because I'd never played him before and he has such a unique style," Bajoit explains. "Once I saw it, I was able to make all the adjustments I needed to make, and it was a game-changer."
Bajoit and Lekovic won another match against Krimbill and Azzalini, 8-5, in No. 2 doubles. In singles, Bajoit defeated Krimbill 6-4, 6-2 to win the individual battle as Trinity won the match 5-2. It was enough to earn Bajoit a share of the SCAC Player of the Year award with Krimbill and vault him to third in the regional rankings to qualify for his first NCAA Individual Championship Tournament.
"Down the stretch, I was able to switch to Line 1, and to me, it was the result of all the hard work I put in," Bajoit says. "The opportunity and win against Krimbill [were] great because that's what got me into the NCAAs, and everything just kind of looked up from there."
"The biggest change for him is his maturity," Porter explains. "He's gone from this immature freshman with some attitude to a team captain who has completely bought in and has had a great impact on the young guys with his presence and the way he handles himself."
Three years ago, Bajoit declared he would be the No. 1 singles player on the tennis team. Now, with a historic season and the Dr. Tex Kassen Men's Athlete of the Year award, he's been selected as the top men's athlete in all of Southwestern.