Arnav Paparkar: First Indian to reach Wimbledon Juniors QF since 1990

Arnav Paparkar stormed his way into boys' singles quarter-finals at the 2026 Wimbledon Juniors, becoming the first Indian in 36 years to do so.

The last Indian boys' singles player to reach the Wimbledon Juniors quarter-finals was Leander Paes way back in 1990.

Paes had then gone on to win the boys' singles title, beating Marcos Ondruska 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in the final.

Paparkar, 18, took down Japan's Ryo Tabata in the Round of 16 on Wednesday. The Indian required only 52 minutes to register a comfortable 6-2, 6-1 victory in straight sets.

Earlier, Paparkar had stunned the tennis fraternity by beating world No 3 Keaton Hance of the United States 6-2, 6-3 in the Round of 32.

He had started his 2026 Wimbledon Juniors campaign with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Joshua Craze of Great Britain and is yet to concede a single set in the tournament.

Paparkar will next face either Jordan Lee or Tanishk Konduri, both of the United States, in the quarter-finals.

Only three Indians – Ramanathan Krishnan (1954), Ramesh Krishnan (1979), and Paes (1990) – have won the boys' singles title at Wimbledon Juniors and Paparkar with his run of form has now put his hat in the ring to become the next in line.