Wimbledon quarter-final appearance renews Arnav Paparkar’s self-belief
“I can compete with anyone. I can beat anyone in the juniors, for sure,” Arnav Paparkar said. The confidence comes from what he achieved at Wimbledon. The 18-year-old became the first Indian boy in 36 years after legendary Leander Paes in 1990 to reach the Wimbledon junior singles quarter-finals, earlier this month. But the magnitude of his achievement didn’t sink in as he walked off the court. It did when his phone barely stopped buzzing. “It has sunk now. For the first two days, my Instagram and WhatsApp were full of notifications,” Paparkar told The Bridge on his return from England. Paparkar had made two junior Grand Slam appearances earlier this year — the Australian Open (main draw) and Roland Garros (third round) — but exited without making much impact. Six months later, the Pune-born returned on the grand stage and enroute his quarterfinal finish knocked out the junior World No. 3 Keaton Hance of the United States with a dominant 6-2, 6-3 win in Wimbledon Juniors. “My first match was with a British wildcard. …









