Sam Landau Almost Quit Tennis After Duke Debacle. Now, He's Healing 'Open Scar' at Indiana

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — With his hands grasped around the back of his worn white tennis shoes, Sam Landau leaned back and stared toward the southeast corner of the Indiana University Tennis Center.

“I never thought I'd come back here, just because of the trajectory,” Landau said. “I didn't think it was going to happen like that.”

Landau once made this building and these courts his home. He’d made fans rise from these metal bleachers and give him applause after magical plays and thrilling wins. Inside these walls, on this campus, he’d gone from an unheralded recruit to one of the nation’s top men’s tennis players in just two years.

Then, he left it all behind.

After winning eight matches at the All-American championships in the fall of 2023, Landau surged in the national rankings. Others with similar rankings were, supposedly, earning significant NIL money, and he wanted to see his valuation.

Landau also felt playing professional tennis was “super achievable,” and he wanted to win a national championship. Indiana’s culture at the time, he said, was more tennis-balanced than tennis-forward and less centered around producing professional players.

In December, Landau approached Indiana men’s tennis coach Jeremy Wurtzman and declared his intentions to enter the transfer portal. Had he waited until May to put his name in the portal, Landau, a student in the Kelley School of Business, said credits would’ve been “impossible” and it would’ve been difficult to get into another business school.

Landau played the remainder of his sophomore season at Indiana while he was in the transfer portal, and he won several big matches. Still, he regrets the timing. Coaches reached out before and after matches. He visited Duke on a weekend where Indiana had a match cancelled, which he acknowledged wasn’t a good look to his teammates.

Landau said he’d never recommend anybody follow what he did. He felt more pressure, more stress, from his transfer portal situation than from his own program, because he knew his performance in each set impacted his career trajectory, be it his potential destination or the money waiting for him at that spot.

Indiana’s coaching staff allowed Landau to keep playing, hoping he’d reverse course and stay in Bloomington. Wurtzman’s optimism proved futile. At season’s end, Landau committed to Duke.

“It hurt,” Wurtzman said. “Definitely needed a few days off to let that settle in.”

Landau felt Duke, a nationally respected program, offered a competitive environment with the funds and facilities necessary to build a championship-winning team. His parents wanted him to go to an academically prestigious place, and the Blue Devils checked that box, too.

The day Landau moved out of his apartment in Bloomington, his parents joked with Wurtzman that Landau may come back. Wurtzman never let his mind believe it.

“I don't think it's a place you normally leave,” Wurtzman said.

Landau found success early at Duke. He arrived in June, and for his first three-and-a-half months in Durham, North Carolina, he felt he was playing the best tennis of his life. He had a “great time” with his teammates, and he enjoyed the militaristic-style coaching he received.

Then, after Landau suffered an injury in late September, everything fell apart.

“When you’re winning, you’re the guy,” Landau said. “You’re getting introduced to everybody. You’re the showpiece. And when you’re injured and you’re not doing what they expect, it’s sort of the opposite.”

Landau admits even when he was the shiny new toy, Duke didn’t feel right. It was a culture shock. He talked to his Indiana teammates more often than his fellow Blue Devils, and he cared more about the Hoosiers’ success than his own team’s.

A parent of one of his teammates told Landau and the rest of his Duke transfer class it wasn’t welcome. He felt like a mercenary who’d been recruited to help pad donors’ pockets. By the middle of the fall, a few weeks after his injury, Landau realized he made a mistake and he regretted leaving Indiana.

And soon thereafter, he had financial frustrations, too.

Landau didn’t choose Duke solely because of NIL promises, but he admits it was a deciding factor between the Blue Devils and his other finalists.

Through text messages and emails, Duke agreed to a deal with Landau where 50% of his funds were an athletic scholarship and the rest would be paid in NIL. It equated to a full-ride deal at one of the nation’s best tennis programs.

Half the team was paid in the fall, and the other half was paid in the spring. On Duke’s first trip, Landau found out his deal wasn’t going to be honored.

“I had still been injured at that point, and it was kind of a surprise,” Landau said. “Obviously I wasn't having a great time at that point anyways. But I'm paying to play for a school that I didn't really care for.”

Landau lost money, and he almost lost tennis, too. If he could ask a question to the version of himself who left for Duke in June of 2024, he’d start with value. He’s long struggled with his purpose — why play tennis? Why, if he doesn’t go pro, does he try so hard? Is it worth the sacrifice?

Now filled with wisdom after a year spent walking through flames, Landau has a clearer — though perhaps not through a 20/20 lens — understanding of his “why.” He loves tennis. He loves competing. He loves showing up and working out with teammates year-round to achieve one goal.

Duke almost broke him.

“I think I almost lost that at Duke,” Landau said. “I almost honestly quit, and then I would have tried to finish my degree in one more year and then maybe play a grad year somewhere. But I would have quit, and then probably would have hated myself for that.”

Why quit? Landau said he was scared to transfer again because he had so much regret from exiting Indiana.

“I just felt like it was a failure,” Landau said. “It was easier in the moment to just focus on academics rather than grind out of the — it’s a very hard way out and it still hurts, but it was definitely the right decision.”

Landau entered the transfer portal this past May, and he called Wurtzman three days in. He didn’t give an opportunity to any other school the first two days because he knew he wanted to be at Indiana. Landau was in Washington D.C. when Wurtzman called with an invitation to visit. He jumped in his car and drove 12 hours the same day to get back to Bloomington.

Wurtzman had an open conversation with Landau. They discussed what Landau truly wanted, and whether he wanted to re-immerse himself back into a culture he’d left the year before. Indiana’s culture, and roster, changed while he was gone.

Wurtzman felt the visit ended in a good spot, and pending clearance from the compliance and academic department, Landau’s return appeared probable.

When Landau went home to Los Angeles, he visited a few California schools, including UCLA, which became his other finalist. Due to the delay in Landau’s decision, Wurtzman feared Landau may leave the Hoosiers at the altar.

Then, in early June, Wurtzman checked his phone, opened a text from Landau and saw a photo with Landau, flanked by his mom and dog, wearing an Indiana T-shirt. He was officially a Hoosier once again.

“When he sent the text that he was coming,” Wurtzman said, “we were really fired up.”

***

Landau’s tennis career began as a 5-year-old, when he joined his older brother Josh, then 8 years old, at a nearby tennis club in Los Angeles. Josh was ahead of the curve, but Sam always tried to follow in his brother’s footsteps — and eventually beat him.

Competition extended into the Landau family’s backyard. They had a mini tennis court not even the size of one side of a normal, regulation court, and a janky net. There, they battled and stoked the flames of Sam’s love for tennis.

But by the age of 12, tennis lost its luster for Sam. He quit for two years. When he returned, he still wasn’t fully committed, instead more in and out of the sport he once immersed himself within.

Still, as a 16-year-old sophomore, Sam was one of the top five high school players in the country, Wurtzman said. Then, he tore his left pectoral. One year later, he had a stress fracture in his left elbow. He also suffered three consecutive high ankle sprains. All told, he missed 19 months.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit soon thereafter, and Sam stopped working out, fell out of shape and took a brief break from tennis.

Sam’s ranking plummeted. He was once the prodigy, well-positioned to choose between any school in the country. By his senior year, many of his peers surpassed him, and his college interest dwindled.

“Super frustrating,” Landau said. “It's always great to see a friend do well. There's also, obviously, a little bit of jealousy, not in a super bad way, but at least in tennis, you kind of grew up with all of these guys (in) tournaments, and you kind of know how you stack up with them.

“I think at some point in high school, where people were so far ahead of me, the gap seemed too hard to bridge for myself.”

Josh played a central role in Sam’s college decision. Sam visited Wisconsin, and Josh, who attended Indiana, drove from Bloomington to Madison for the visit. Wisconsin was Josh’s dream school, and Sam enjoyed his visit, but the Badgers only offered a walk-on spot. The Hoosiers offered a partial scholarship.

When Sam visited Indiana, he said he hung out more with Josh than his prospective teammates. Josh is three years older than Sam. Subsequently, Sam didn’t see Josh very much in high school, and Sam wanted to spend another year or two with his brother before Josh entered the workforce.

So, Sam chose Indiana. Wurtzman saw his talent, how he hit the ball, how he’d won in his past. Wurtzman knew Sam had traits so long as Indiana could rebuild his confidence and mental state and keep him healthy.

Sam arrived in Bloomington not expecting to play much as a freshman. Wurtzman and his staff weren’t sure if Sam would even make the lineup. But after a summer spent building confidence and getting into shape, he began his ascent.

Ratings wise on a 13-man team, Sam said he started the summer around 11th, then rose to No. 7 or No. 8 by the end of summer and finished the fall at No. 1 or No. 2. He won a few matches and was competitive with a few of the nation’s best.

As Sam’s confidence grew, so did his belief — and his performance blossomed. Suddenly, he’d returned to the top-five player he once was.

“It was like, ‘Gosh, we must have got a little lucky,’” Wurtzman said. “But then you look at it, and you're like, ‘Okay, he's a lefty. He has talent. He's won before. He works hard.’ So, when you put that all into context, it made sense why he was able to make that jump.

“But at the time, everyone was like, ‘What did you do to Sam Landau to be this good?’”

Momentum started rolling behind Sam, who found happiness as much in his success on the court as Josh’s presence off it. Josh always wanted to be a college athlete, but due to injuries suffered as a soccer player, he never fulfilled that dream. Sam, as a freshman, felt Josh almost lived vicariously through him during his standout season.

Life, at that point, was fun.

Sam had a strong summer entering his sophomore year and carried it over to the fall. But questions percolated on his mind. Questions about his future school or profession. Questions about his happiness.

He committed to Indiana in large part because of Josh. Without his brother, father or any other family member on campus, Bloomington no longer seemed like home.

“I didn't feel like IU, the first time around, was the place that I wanted to be at,” Sam said. “I kind of wrestled internally if IU was my place or my brother and parents’ place.”

Now, there are no more intrusive thoughts and no more doubts. After a year away from Bloomington — a year full of false hope, broken promises and a fever dream-turned-nightmare — Sam is back at a place that’s firmly his.

Sam won Big Ten Men’s Tennis Player of the Week in mid-October after going undefeated in five matches and earning co-champions status at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships. He became the first Hoosier since 2004 to secure a spot in the NCAA’s Singles Championship, and he made a run to the round of 32 in the NCAA’s Doubles Championship with teammate Facundo Yunis.

Professional tennis is still a dream for Sam, who feels it’s achievable but knows he has areas of his game to improve upon and must decide whether the time, effort and energy is worth it. He’s No. 105 in the ITA rankings, the lone Indiana player in the top 125, after finishing 6–2 in singles this fall.

It’s a fine place to build.

Wurtzman and Indiana’s coaching staff inherited Sam in a similar place this summer as when he first walked into their offices three years prior. After his arduous 2024-25 campaign at Duke, Sam appeared defeated, with less confidence and more self-doubt than when he’d left the year before.

The Hoosiers spent this fall again building Sam back. By the end of October, he still wasn’t fully comfortable — after all, he’s re-acclimating to a place he didn’t think he’d see again.

Chemistry and camaraderie isn’t an issue for Sam and his teammates, and Sam feels Indiana’s operation is better and more serious than it was when he left. The program has improved tremendously the past three to four years, Sam said.

Now, there are more heights to reach, more matches to win and more dreams to chase — and, for Sam, more self-discovery and wounds to heal along the way.

“There's still an open scar, I guess,” Sam said. “It doesn't feel weird at all. I don't know how to explain it. I think of myself as an Indiana student, through and through, and it kind of feels like I took a gap year in a random place or went to tennis camp for a year. It's hard to recognize, myself, that that happened.”