3 days ago
Rafael Nadal Academy star joins historic club with maiden Wimbledon title
16-year-old Ivan Ivanov became only the second Bulgarian in the history of Wimbledon to win the grass court title. On Sunday, July 13, the teenager defeated Ronit Karki of the United States to win the boys' singles title. The sixth seed didn't drop a set and won the match 6-2, who trains at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca, is only one of the two Bulgarian players along with Grigor Dimitrov to win a Grand Slam junior singles title. Before Ivanov, the last Bulgarian boy to reach a junior Grand Slam singles final was Grigor Dimitrov at the 2008 US in 2008, Dimitrov won the Wimbledon boys singles title after beating Henri Kontinen 7-5, 6-3.
Against Karki, Ivanov was at his very best as he didn't face a single break point and finished off the match in 57 minutes. En route to his title, Ivanov also avenged his defeat to Germany's Max Schonhaus, beating him 7-6(7), 7-6 (5) in the semis. Schonhaus had beaten Ivanov in the French Open is currently the highest-ranked player under 17 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, sitting at World No. 798. Fellow 16-year-old Cruz Hewitt, son of former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, follows at No. far as Dimitrov is concerned, he made a heartbreaking exit from the Wimbledon men's singles. In the pre-quarterfinals, Dimitrov retired midway from his match after an unfortunate pectoral was leading the match 6-3, 7-5 and was on the verge of history as he was about to enter the Wimbledon quarters after a whopping ten years, but fate had other plans for him.- Ends
