Rutgers-Newark Athletics

By Jim Hague

His full name is Nathi Kijpatanasilp, which, of course, is pronounced exactly how it’s spelled. He’d much prefer, thank you, to be called by his Americanized name of Nate.

It’s safe to say that Kijpatanasilp (actually pronounced KEEGE-PAT-AN-A-SIN), a senior member of the Rutgers-Newark men’s tennis team, gets a lot of good natured ribbing about his very unique name, with the surname’s origin coming from his family’s background in their native Thailand.

“I get a lot of nicknames from it,” Kijpatanasilp said. “I get called ‘Special K’ or ‘Alphabet.’ It’s all pretty funny. I really don’t mind.”

Kijpatanasilp came to Rutgers-Newark from nearby North Bergen and North Bergen High, where he never got a chance to play with the school’s varsity tennis team, although he remained a part of the program for all four years of high school.

“I never got a chance to play,” Kijpatanasilp said. “I was pretty much just a reserve. I never got a chance to prove myself or redeem myself. It was kind of hard to change the coach’s mind about me. He just never gave me the chance to play. I kept trying, but never got the opportunity.”

That experience would have soured a lot of people on the sport of tennis, but not Nate.

“Tennis and I have been going back a long time together,” Kijpatanasilp said. “I’ve been playing tennis since I was about 12 years old. I love playing tennis. It’s one of the best sports out there. It’s more of a mental sport than anything. It’s pretty much the No. 1 reason why I like playing the sport. I like the mental approach.”

So when Kijpatanasilp enrolled at Rutgers-Newark, he decided to give the men’s tennis team a try, even though he didn’t play a single set of high school varsity tennis.

“I knew it was a bigger level, a higher level,” Kijpatanasilp said. “But when I joined, it felt like one big family. I really liked it. I had a good feeling about the team. I didn’t know if I would contribute, but I was going to give it a try.”

The affable Kijpatanasilp made the Scarlet Raiders’ varsity as a freshman and saw action in three doubles matches. On April 15, 2008, he enjoyed his first collegiate victory, along with teammate Mario Bodoy, an 8-1 win over Bloomfield.

As a sophomore, Kijpatanasilp won three matches playing singles and won another match in doubles. He won his first three singles matches of the season against Lehman, Caldwell and Brooklyn College.

Last year, Kijpatanasilp was among the top singles players for the Scarlet Raiders, seeing action in singles in all nine of R-N’s matches and all but one in doubles with freshman William Cheung.

The guy who didn’t play a single match in high school had solidly entrenched himself as a collegiate tennis player.

“For the last four years, I’ve played a pretty important role and help us win here and there,” Kijpatanasilp said. “That’s been a great thing. I am pretty surprised about it all. It has to be all about the coaching (Ken Graham). We get along very well. He’s able to see my mistakes and I’ve been able to improve. He’s guided me the right way. I owe a lot to him.”

Kijpatanasilp said that there’s not a lot to what he’s done during his career.

“I just see the ball and hit it back,” Kijpatanasilp said. “I don’t think there’s more to it. I am not thinking before I hit the ball. I just try to hit it back. It’s more like a moving chess game. That’s the way I think about it.”

Kijpatanasilp is hopeful that he can continue his winning ways during his last year at R-N.

“I’m very confident about this season,” Kijpatanasilp said. “I don’t think any of us are afraid of anything. We’re looking to break out this year.”

Kijpatanasilp is a geology major at Rutgers-Newark. He plans on joining the U.S. Army after graduation in his attempt to become an environmental scientist and eventually will attend the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) to get a Masters’ degree in public health.

If there’s one wish Kijpatanasilp has – besides getting a new nickname or two – it would be for his high school coach at North Bergen to pay attention to what he’s done as a college tennis player.

“I just wish he could see me now,” Kijpatanasilp said. “It would be nice.”