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The highlight of Finbar Talcott's junior tennis career has nothing to do with a great tournament or a surprise upset.

Instead, the Long Island native's favorite memory came after a growth-spurt-induced binary fracture in his back sidelined him for several months before his sophomore year at North Shore High School. His return to the court was gradual - he could only play mini tennis at first - but the feeling of the ball on his strings again is something he will never forget.

His appreciation for the game in the years following that injury helped him achieve his goal of committing to play college tennis. Of course, his family may have had something to do with that, too.

Two of Talcott's four older siblings have also had success on the court. His sister Shelby graduated from the University of Iowa and now plays on the ITF Pro Circuit, and his brother Aidan is a senior at William & Mary. But even with those examples to follow, his athleticism could have taken him in a very different direction.

"I was pretty serious about swimming when I was little, but one year we switched pools and the pool that we switched to was really cold," Talcott said. "I didn't like that and stopped swimming altogether."

Talcott immediately directed his attention toward his favorite land sport, training after school at Robbie Wagner's Tournament Training Center with coach Parsa Samii. A decade later, not much has changed. Now a Four-Star recruit, Talcott is still working with Samii, who helped him create his "aggressive baseliner" game style. He also credits Samii with developing his one-handed backhand.