History at Wimbledon: Arnav Babbarkar becomes the first Indian in 36 years to reach the boys’ singles quarter-finals since Leander Paes | Tennis News
Arnav Babarkar took the quieter route. He climbed the ladder step by step, starting in lower-level international tournaments in India before moving through the Asian circuit and eventually to the higher levels. The 18-year-old began competing in junior Grand Slam events this year, in his final season in the category, and has been improving with each tournament. On Wednesday, that steady rise reached a historic moment as Babarkar became the first Indian in 36 years to reach the boys’ singles quarter-finals at Wimbledon, since Leander Paes He lifted the title in 1990.The 6-foot-1-inch Indian, ranked No. 19 in the junior rankings, defeated Japan’s Ryo Tabata 6-2, 6-1 in 52 minutes to book his place in the quarter-finals, where he will face American qualifier Jordan Lee. Babarkar will look to turn things around against Lee, having lost their previous two matches, including their last encounter at J300 Roehampton in June.Yuki Bhambri, who won the Australian Open junior tournament in 2009, reached the quarter-finals of the US Open in the same year and remains the last Indian before Babarkar to reach the quarter-finals of a junior Grand Slam tournament. Tabata, who has beaten Babarkar twice before, including once after the Indian raced to a 5-2 lead in the deciding set and had five match points, was not at his physical best. As the match went on, he struggled with his serve and eventually stopped expanding his coverage of the court.“I had that match on my mind. I said to myself, ‘I can’t lose like that again.’ I’m much better now mentally, calmer… I tell myself, ‘It’s okay, it’s just a tennis match,'” a beaming Babarkar said.Babarkar was aware of the physical difficulties suffered by the Japanese player.He added: “I realized that he was struggling with his serve, but sometimes players feel better during the match, so I was just focusing on what I could do in the match.”Babarkar put in another impressive display with his serve, firing eight aces and winning 23 of 25 points on his first serve. His fastest serve of the day came at 208 km/h in the second set, while his average first serve speed was 196 km/h.The Indian has two training bases, at his home in Pune, where he works with Hemant Bender, and at the Soto Academy in Spain, where he trains under Nigel Beavers. Paparkar credits Bendre with helping improve his serve by adjusting his movement.“If I see now that my swing is slower and more complete, my coach told me in April that it’s better to work on that now because it will prevent injuries,” he said. “It gave me better rhythm and led to more consistency.”
