Even in the midst of the diversity of Baruch College, tennis student-athlete Mikheil Sumbatashvili still manages to stand out.

It’s not only his outstanding command of the court but also his geographical prowess that’s impressive. The former is compliments of his father and brother, who introduced him to the game as a young child. The latter is thanks to his part-time job as a New York City cab driver.

Sumbatashvili, who says he wants to work on Wall Street someday, immigrated with his family to the United States from the Republic of Georgia eight years ago. After seeing depictions of college student life on television and in the movies, he said he had an image of himself as both student and athlete. Getting accepted at Baruch took care of part of it.

A visit to the athletics department to determine his eligibility and subsequently earning a spot on the tennis squad took care of more. But Sumbatashvili needed some income to sustain his educational and athletics pursuits. More specifically, he needed a job with a flexible work schedule to accommodate his academic, athletics and family obligations.

Though he mulled several options, in the end Sumbatashvili said becoming a cabbie made the most sense. “The cab driving was one of the things where it’s up to you. You’re an independent contractor. It’s you and your schedule,” he said.

The finance major and math and statistics minor has been a taxi driver for two years. A typical day behind the wheel of one of the more than 10,000 cabs that service the city begins at 5 a.m. Sumbatashvili drives for several hours until it’s time to head to practice and class. During that time, he parks the cab at a nearby stand until he returns and resumes picking up and dropping off fares throughout the evening.

Although his schedule makes for early mornings and late nights between school, sports, family, friends and even extracurricular activities (he is president of Baruch’s Georgian Student Association), Sumbatashvili believes it’s worth the effort.

“If I wouldn’t have driven a cab, I wouldn’t have an opportunity to be an athlete and do all the other things I that I do,” he said.

This past summer’s spike in gas prices forced him to cut down on how frequently he revved up the Crown Victoria, and these days Sumbatashvili supplements his income doing electrical work in addition to ferrying guests and residents around the city.  

As it happens, money isn’t the only payoff from Sumbatashvili’s gig as a taxi driver. Though his teammates joke with him about his part-time job, he does serve as something of a human GPS.

“In the end, it’s always me who leads people whenever we go to play tennis,” he said. “I know all the ways.”

Make no mistake, Sumbatashvili, who has been playing tennis since he was 6 years old, knows his way around the court as well. He helped the Bearcats earn their fifth straight City University of New York Athletic Conference championship this past season and was a 2008 CUNYAC first-team all star team pick at No. 4 singles.