The Historic Rise of Fnu Nidunjianzan
8/29/2023
On August 23, 1973, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) officially began publishing rankings for singles. Since then, only one player born in Tibet has earned a ranking point.
That player is Fnu “Top” Nidunjianzan, a sophomore on the Princeton University men’s tennis team. The highest Nidunjianzan, just 19 years old, has been ranked to date is No. 800.
As a freshman, Nidunjianzan was also named First Team All-Ivy League in singles and rose as high as No. 113 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) singles rankings. He amassed 23 wins in singles and played all dual matches at the No. 1 position. Nidunjianzan defeated multiple nationally ranked opponents including No. 22 Michael Zheng of Columbia, No. 31 Edoardo Graziani of the University of Pennsylvania and No. 99 Nikola Slavic of Ole Miss. In the fall, he played at the ITA All-American Championships.
Not bad for a guy from a place that only has one tennis court.
Tibet, located in the Himalayas, covers around 970,000 square miles and has an average elevation of 14,000 feet, making it the highest place on earth. Tennis balls don’t last long there, typically exploding due to the altitude according to Nidunjianzan. When google searching “Tennis players from Tibet” the first item that appears is in the results is a link to Nidunjianzan’s Instagram account. You’ll also see a profile for Zheng Saisai near the top, a player with a Tibetan father who has been ranked as high as No. 15 in doubles and No. 34 in singles in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings. Locals typically prefer Horse racing, track & field, Yak racing and archery. Tibet is also home to Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain which peaks at 29,032 feet above sea level. It’s a place known for many things, but tennis has historically not been one of them.
“It definitely feels special, seeing my name on the Chinese media pages as the first Tibetan to do this,” said Nidunjianzan. “From a holistic view, I’m also playing for the country of China and they have so many good players breaking through into the top-50. I’m just looking up to them and pursuing what they’re doing. It’s humbling and I’m just at the bottom of this iceberg starting off.”
An appreciation of sports runs in the Nidunjianzan family. His father, Nimazhaxi, who owns and operates a tourism business was a track and field coach for many years. Nimazhaxi and his wife Gasheng insisted their son get involved with sports at an early age. After trying ping pong, soccer and swimming Nidunjianzan found tennis and quickly fell in love with the sport. His father would build him a tennis court, which was the region’s only court until a convenience store was placed on top of it. Since then, the Tibetan Federation has built an indoor court for players to use.
At the age of six, Nidunjianzan and his mother moved from Lhasa, Tibet, to Chengdu, China, seeking more opportunities to pursue the sport he loved. Home schooled through a private institution, Nidunjianzan was able to focus more on tennis while also remaining committed to his academics. While the move had its challenges, it was an overall positive experience and important part of Nidunjianzan’s journey. Along with its diverse population, he also enjoyed the cuisine of his new home, known for its spices and hot pots.
He began to immerse himself in tennis, idolizing Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. When Nidunjianzan was six, he got to watch Pete Sampras and Greg Rusedski play in an ATP Champions Tour event in Chengdu. Sampras, a former world No. 1 and 14-time Grand Slam champion, was in the twilight of his career and fell 6-4, 6-2 to Rusedski, a British-Canadian who peaked at No. 4 in the rankings and made the final of the US Open in 1997.
Of course, all of that meant nothing to a six-year-old Nidunjianzan, who was just there for fun. After the match, Nidunjianzan joined a line to get a photo with and autograph from Sampras. At that moment, little did he know he his tennis career would eventually take him to Sampras’ country.
Nidunjianzan would also get inspiration on a more personal level once he moved to Chengdu. He would train with a group of kids ranging from ages 6-17 at the Chengdu City Club, a tennis club that represented the city. Being around his peers accelerated Nidunjianzan’s love for tennis, he was never lonely and built some close friendships.
Along with the friends he made, Nidunjianzan’s coach, Dong Guo, was also influential in helping him fall in love with the sport. Every time Nidunjianzan goes back to Chengdu, he practices with Guo and many warm memories are brought back. It was under Guo’s guidance that Nidunjianzan began to hone the fundamentals of the sport.
As he grew as a tennis player he would find another mentor, Timmy Allin. Allin, from Texas and a 2010 graduate of the University of Utah, was the No. 1 amateur tennis player in China. After training with him for several months, he suggested Nidunjianzan check out other parts of the world, including the US. His parents agreed.
Nidunjianzan first experienced the US when he was seven, landing in Dallas, Texas. Unable to initially find a school that gave student visas, Nidunjianzan went on a tourist visa for three months. There was a culture shock and language barrier to deal with, and Nidunjianzan recalls telling a US Customs Officer that he intended to stay for three hours instead of three months. Both Nidunjianzan and his mother were taken into a private room and provided with a translator, who explained that they did not travel halfway across the world for a three-hour stay.
During his initial week in Dallas, Nidunjianzan ate almost nothing but Subway. Along with vividly remembering his earliest American culinary experiences, he fondly recalls how much he enjoyed getting to be around people from all walks of life.
“There were Hispanics and Koreans, all of these people I never got to meet before,” explained Nidunjianzan. “They were all incredibly nice and took me in as one of their own. It was a very pleasant entry into the US. Still to this day they were the nicest people I’ve ever met.”
After loving his experience in the US, Nidunjianzan desperately wanted to stay and his parents discovered that IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, offered student visas. Founded by legendary tennis coach Nick Bollettieri, IMG Academy helped produce some of the greatest to ever do it; Sampras, Andre Agassi, Boris Becker, Björn Borg and Jim Courier just to name a few. Nidunjianzan was entering a high-performance environment.
While the initial plan called for a three-year stay, he would end up staying at IMG for 10 years, from the ages of eight to 18. Most kids who attend IMG go as 10-year-olds, making eight-year-old Nidunjianzan one of the youngest there. With limited knowledge of English outside the little he learned in Dallas, Nidunjianzan enlisted the help of a tutor. After two years, he really hit his stride as both a person and tennis player.
While he went to IMG with the sole goal of being a pro, it was the lessons from his father that led him to college tennis and ultimately to Princeton.
“My dad always told me you can’t miss school and always need that education behind you,” said Nidunjianzan. “I never understood it and wanted to be professional and wondered why I needed to go to school, but he had a plan for me before I even knew.”
The mix of school and tennis at IMG worked well for Nidunjainzan, and it helped him land at Princeton. At the age of 16 he realized going to college would be beneficial instead of immediately going pro, as he’d learn more about himself and play against better players in the college environment. Nidunjianzan describes the realization as a “big shift” toward his goal.
Once college became a priority, he turned his attention to finding a high academic school with a successful athletic department. Nidunjianzan found connection to Princeton in Alan Kam, who he trained with for three years at IMG prior to Kam’s departure for his final year of high school. Due to COVID-19, Nidunjianzan missed out on visiting most colleges and had to rely on virtual tours and gathering what information he could online. Kam became a valuable resource, having already committed to Princeton and visited several other schools.
“He is definitely one of the most unique people I had ever met, and I could tell he was built different from the first time we interacted,” said Kam. “It has been great seeing him grow and continue to see him work as hard as he does. He is always looking for ways to improve and compete, so it is no surprise he keeps getting better. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about his abilities on the basketball court.”
Basketball skills aside, Kam is thrilled to have Nidunjianzan as a teammate. The two have developed a close bond that adds to an already strong culture of the team.
After one year at Princeton, Nidunjianzan couldn’t be happier with his decision. It didn’t take long for him to start making friends, starting with freshman orientation. College tennis, which is truly a team sport, added a new dimension of enjoyment. Prior to playing at Princeton, Nidunjianzan had always played tennis individually. He’s reveled in being part of a group where everyone is working toward a goal bigger than themselves.
“These college dual matches have been electric,” said Nidunjianzan. “College tennis and professional tennis are different, it’s a completely different pressure system. You’re not just playing for yourself; you’re playing for a pack of people.”
Moving forward, Nidunjianzan has high expectations for himself and the team at Princeton. A return to the NCAA Tournament is a must for both the team and Nidunjianzan as an individual, as is an Ivy League title. A conference championship is no small feat in the Ivy League; five programs, including the Tigers, ended the 2023 season ranked by the ITA. Princeton will receive an infusion of talent with its incoming classes of 2027 and 2028, putting the Tigers in a strong position to compete with the best and accomplish those goals.
Head coach Billy Pate is excited about what lies ahead for Nidunjianzan. After getting through the grind of a full college tennis season with him, Pate got to know him on a deeper level.
“Top had an outstanding first year for us and we know the experience of playing No. 1 will be invaluable for him going into his second year,” said Pate. “He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve seen during my years of coaching college tennis. He brings a blue-collar work ethic to every session and puts in so much time off the court with stretching, nutrition and watching film. He’s truly a gym rat and really earned his teammates’ respect due to his diligence, professionalism and on court intensity. The sky is the limit for Top and I know with his process-oriented approach and year of college experience under his belt he’s ready for another breakthrough. He has his sights set for a career on the pro tour and we are excited to help him on that path.”
Post-college, Nidunjianzan aspires to fulfill a long-held dream and go pro, not placing any limits on what he hopes to accomplish. To get into the qualifying rounds at Grand Slams, players must be ranked inside the top 250. Nidunjianzan is aiming high, and justifiably so.
In May 2023 Nidunjianzan took a step closer to reaching his goal when he won his first professional singles title at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) M15 Huntsville, garnering 15 ATP ranking points in the process. Unseeded in the tournament, Nidunjianzan defeated three seeded opponents on route to the championship, including 2017 NCAA Singles Champion Thai-Son Kwiatkowski of Virginia, who he took down in the first round. Kwiatkowski is currently ranked No. 497 in the world.
The M15 Huntsville was not his only impressive result of the summer. After his title he spent two weeks training at the Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain, before advancing to the quarterfinals of the M15 Ueberlingen in Germany and the Round of 16 in the M15 Pescara in Italy, along with the M15 Xativa in Spain.
Wherever he ends up, the Fnu Nidunjianzan story will always be a remarkable one. Princeton is over 7,000 miles Lhasa, a world away in a literal and metaphorical sense. Just to get here Nidunjianzan has learned new languages and adapted to new cultures, tasks he’s taken to with a smile on his face and an unmatched level of enthusiasm. He will always be a “first.”
Most exciting of all, especially for Princeton fans, is that this story is only just getting started.
