Three dozen years is a long time in any sphere of life, not just sport. Yet, on a scorching Wednesday morning last week, on the most famous lawns in the world, it took just 52 minutes for Arnav Paparkar to script a chapter in Indian tennis history.

With a clinical 6-2, 6-1 demolition of Japan’s Ryo Tabata in the boys’ round of 16, the 18-year-old stormed into the Wimbledon quarterfinals and became the first Indian since the legendary Leander Paes in 1990 to achieve the feat. For Indian tennis, the long wait was finally over.

In a virtual interaction with The Hindu, Arnav revealed that meticulous preparation did the trick. “I trained on grass in Spain for two weeks before Wimbledon and also played a tournament in Roehampton. I was comfortable with the way I moved, served and returned… I didn’t miss too many returns,” Arnav said.

The confidence also stemmed from the lessons learnt during the course of the year. “I was a bit nervous because the Australian Open was my first Grand Slam. There were so many people watching. By the time French Open arrived, I wasn’t thinking about the crowd anymore. I just played my natural game,” said the Pune teenager, who idolises Roger Federer and football icon Cristiano Ronaldo.

Arnav’s self-belief came to the fore at The Championships. He brushed aside British wildcard Joshua Craze before causing a flutter by taking out third seed Keaton Hance. He then went on to avenge the two losses against Tabata in their earlier meetings.

“I knew playing the third seed was going to be tough, but wasn’t impossible. My serve clicked, and I handled the pressure well. Only after the match did it sink in that I had beaten a higher-ranked player,” Arnav recalled.

Behind the teenager’s rise lies the unwavering support of his family.

nnis“My mother is a doctor, but she closed her clinic as she had to travel with me regularly. My elder brother sacrificed a lot because he often stayed home alone while my parents travelled for tournaments. Everyone in my family has sacrificed in some way or the other. I want to do something special for them one day”.

Tennis fans of recent vintage never tire of talking about the ‘Big Three’ of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

It’s understandable too, for they collectively won 66 Majors in a 20-year-span, triggered constant improvements in each other’s games and elevated the quality to levels unseen.

When Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner started dominating the Tour — they have won 11 of the last 13 Slams — supporters were no doubt enthralled, but there was a longing for a third power-centre to break the duo’s omnipresence.

Sunday’s final at Wimbledon, where Jannik Sinner brought down the German wall in Alexander Zverev 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4, may be the first sign of such a triumvirate developing in this era.

“Big, big respect to Sascha [Zverev], because he’s doing something amazing,” Sinner said after winning his second straight Wimbledon and fifth Major.

“His game is growing, and what’s good is that you have someone who is pushing you to the limit. We hope that Carlos [Alcaraz] comes back [from his wrist injury], because tennis needs him. Having Novak [Djokovic] around, and with all the young players coming up, it’s really nice.”

Zverev, 29, did not play like a man who had lost nine straight times to Sinner. The French Open win last month had done wonders to his confidence, and he came out all guns blazing, hitting monstrous serves and big ground-strokes to stay with the World No. 1 for the first two sets.

“We’ve had glimpses of him trying to play that way in previous head-to-head matchups,” Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill said.

“In Miami [where Sinner won 6-3, 7-6(4)], he served really well and was unloading on every single forehand. He had a couple of chances in that match. We knew he was capable of doing it. We just didn’t know for how long he could.” Though Zverev’s level dropped slightly in the third and fourth, he ran up a break-point at 3-3 in the third — saved by a brave Sinner drop shot — and severely tested the Italian when the latter was serving for the championship at 5-4 in the fourth.

At 30-30, it required Sinner to come up with a remarkable backhand cross-court lift, almost parallel to the net, to turn an excruciating rally his way.

“This year has been a progress,” stated Zverev, who is now the new World No. 2. “I haven’t beaten, but I’ve pushed them to the limits. Alcaraz in Australia, Jannik may be here. Even though it was four sets, it was very close, and could have gone five as well.

“I’ve always been the third guy in a way. So if I get closer to them, be in the mix to win the big tournaments, it would be great”.

Like a skilled mason bringing down a well-hardened wall brick by brick, Jannik Sinner dismantled Alexander Zverev 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4 to win his second straight Wimbledon and fifth Grand Slam title.

Sunday’s triumph on Centre Court extended Sinner’s winning streak against Zverev to ten matches and made him the fourth man in the last 25 years to defend the crown at the All England Club after Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.

The first two sets were mostly serve fests and there wasn’t a single break. But an uptick in Sinner’s return game in the third and fourth sets, where he broke in the eighth and seventh games respectively, swung the tide.

The first set was all staccato, with the style of tennis resembling that of a bygone era, not the serve-and-volley that used to be in vogue, but the ‘Big Game’ approach of a cannonball serve followed by a crushing putaway.

Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev pose with their trophies after the men’s singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships
| Photo Credit:
AP

Both men served as well as they could. The difference was in what they did after the first shot. Sinner was mostly steady, without being spectacular. Zverev was impatient and tried to hit through the court.

The German’s restlessness was understandable, for a safe game would have played right into the World No. 1’s hands.

It was that bravery which helped Zverev take the first set in a tie-break as he dished out a first-rate forehand at 8-7.

The second stanza was an extension of the first, and it was hardly surprising to see another tiebreak.

But a tinge of lethargy and sluggishness crept into Zverev’s game and Sinner capitalised. He ran up a 4-0 lead and took the tie-break to two points when the second seed hit a backhand cross-court wide.

The momentum seemed to be with Sinner, but it was Zverev who had the first opportunity to break open the contest in the third set. At 3-3, he earned a break-point but Sinner saved it with a drop.

Jannik Sinner of Italy plays a return to Alexander Zverev of Germany men’s singles final at Wimbledon Tennis Championships
| Photo Credit:
AP

Zverev slipped while trying to chase it and went down clutching his right knee. For the audience, it immediately brought back memories of 2022 when he rolled his ankle badly in the French Open semifinal against Rafael Nadal.

Sinner walked all the way across the net to check, and was soon locked in a side hug with Zverev.

However, the goodwill ended there as Sinner broke Zverev to 5-3 despite the latter being 40-15 up.

A hold to love put the Italian on the ascendancy, and tennis’ most prestigious crown was soon his.

In tennis parlance, 39 years is when your career is in its autumn. But for Novak Djokovic, it is proving to be a glorious second summer.

History-making and record-setting are like second nature to him. Yet, his performance on Tuesday (July 7, 2026), under the dazzling white lights of Centre Court and against an opponent nearly 14 years his junior, was astonishing to say the least.

The Serbian great finished on the right side of a five-hour, 15-minute slugfest to oust third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6(10), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(4) and set up a much-anticipated last-four meeting with World No. 1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner.

Djokovic has now reached eight straight singles semifinals at Wimbledon. It is also his 15th overall at the All England Club, equalling Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s single-Slam records at the Australian Open and French Open respectively.

In a fantastic co-incidence, Djokovic was early in the first-set tie-break when fellow 39-year-old Lionel Messi was fashioning a thrilling 3-2 World Cup win for Argentina over Egypt in far-away Atlanta.

Asked about it in the post-match press conference, the seven-time Wimbledon titlist chuckled and quipped: “It would be nice to play 90 minutes like him.”

That Djokovic was on the court for three hours and 45 minutes more – albeit in a less explosive and non-contact sport – was testament to his incredible fitness and supreme conditioning.

Djokovic’s ship did not always sail smoothly. He experienced discomfort in his left leg as early as the ninth game and called for a medical time-out. There were multiple occasions when he grimaced between points and continued stretching his legs. He also seemed out of breath after many a long-drawn rally. But he made it look enjoyable, letting out a wry smile from time to time.

It was an evening of undulating fortunes; Auger-Aliassime had set-points in the first stanza but did not capitalise; Djokovic was up a break in the fourth and yet allowed the match to drift into a decider.

But the 24-time Major winner was flawless when it was most required – in the 10-point match-tiebreak where he barely missed a shot.

It was a textbook example of how elites quarantine themselves and elevate their play. As Djokovic later mentioned, it was all about “management of nerves and the extreme tension”.

“These are still the moments I still play tennis for,” Djokovic said, after the longest quarterfinal in Wimbledon history. “I wish it was the final so that I didn’t have to worry about how the body will feel.

“But I am happy. I was telling the kids to go to sleep after the fourth set but they didn’t listen. I am glad they stayed because it was one of my best matches on this court.”

When Carlos Alcaraz pulled out of both the French Open and Wimbledon, it appeared as if Jannik Sinner had no credible threats. Then at Roland-Garros, when the World No. 1 lost in the second round under sweltering conditions, a new foe emerged — heat.

Tuesday at Wimbledon was Sinner’s first test against this unconventional adversary, and to his immense credit, the 24-year-old came out unscathed to beat German Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 7-6(4), 6-3 in two hours and 35 minutes.

Temperatures were admittedly not as bad as Paris, and just about touched 30 degrees. Nonetheless, it felt harsh because of the high prevailing humidity. With the entirety of Court No. 1 bathed in sunshine and there being no cloud in sight, it was difficult to spot even an inch of shade to retreat to. Yet, Sinner found a safe haven — in his clutch play.

“It’s a good step forward,” he said after sealing his berth in Friday’s semifinal. “We worked a lot after Paris. Discussed what went wrong and prepared in the best possible way. It was a huge test. But I felt really comfortable on the physical side.”

Tennis-wise, Struff had the attributes to trouble Sinner. From a height of 6’4”, his service was his biggest weapon, and on grass, as always, it acquired an additional layer of menace.

The 36-year-old was also in form, having overcome the likes of Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz en route his maiden Major quarterfinal.

Sinner’s usually solid ground-strokes had deserted him for much of the first week, and this continued in the first set on Tuesday as well. But at 5-5, the defending champion broke through, putting together a sequence of two forehand winners and a fierce return that hurried Struff into a low — and ultimately futile — volley. A hold to 15 gave him a one-set lead.

Margins remained tight in the second stanza, and worryingly, Sinner’s serve started wobbling. He couldn’t consolidate a break at 2-1, and then had a distressing time in the tenth game as Struff ran up a set-point.

However, the Italian turned it around like the flick of a switch, hammering two service winners and an ace. In the tie-break that ensued minutes later, Sinner landed five big first-serves, and soon led two sets to love.

At the French Open against Juan Manuel Cerundolo, Sinner was 6-3, 6-2, 5-1 ahead before melting under the torrid weather. But here, he didn’t let those bad memories bog him down, with the immaculate drop he executed to lead 2-1 in the third set indicative of his calm mind. A break of serve seemed imminent, and it duly arrived in the eighth game when Struff sent a stretched backhand long. Sinner leaned forward, and dashed to the finish like an expert runner on a smooth downhill home stretch.

Indian juniors advance

Elsewhere, India’s Arnav Vijay Paparkar overcame third seed Keaton Hance of the United States 6-2, 6-3 to enter the third round of the boys’ singles.

On Monday, Arnav and his Thai partner Kunanan Pantaratorn had booked their place in the doubles second round while Maaya Rajeshwaran and her U.S. comrade Thea Frodin had done the same in girls’ doubles.

In recent times, the most prominent Italian understudy to World No. 1 Jannik Sinner has been Lorenzo Musetti.

He has made the quarterfinals or better at all four Slams, been in the ATP top-10 for a good part of the last 14 months, and even climbed up to a career-high ranking of No. 5 ahead of the Australian Open earlier this year.

Over the past few months, however, Flavio Cobolli has usurped that understudy spot. Ranked outside the top-20 at the start of the season, the 24-year-old broke into the top-10 on the back of a stirring run to the recent French Open final.

On Monday, with a straight-sets victory over fifth seed Alex de Minaur, he made his second straight Wimbledon quarterfinal. He will meet British wild card Arthur Fery, who ended Grigor Dimitrov’s stay by clinching a nerve-wracking five-setter.

“I played one of my best matches ever, especially on this surface, which is always tough,” said Cobolli. “I found a way to a high level for the whole match and it was really impressive,” added the World No. 10.

Encouragingly, the wholesome performance came after quite a few back-to-the-wall efforts. Cobolli recovered from a first set bagel (6-0) to scrape through in five sets against the big-serving Karen Khachanov in the previous round; of the 12 sets he has won, six have been tense tie-breaks.

What should also hold him in good stead is his powerful game. Cobolli belongs to the group of players who literally bludgeon the ball, with Joao Fonseca, Jakub Mensik and Tomas Machac the other prominent members. When combined with a capable serve, it can prove devastating.

Movement and foot dexterity are allies too. After all, Cobolli spent five years at the famed football academy of AS Roma before switching full-time to the racquet sport. Recently in Paris, he did an entire lap of Court Philippe-Chatrier while juggling a tennis ball.

After the win against de Minaur, much to the delight of the Court No. 1 audience, he even re-created Cristiano Ronaldo’s famed mid-air twirl celebration.

The skills are there. The crowd has been charmed. Will silverware follow?

Naomi Osaka is joy unbound after eliminating top seed Aryna Sabalenka to make her maiden quarterfinals at Wimbledon on Sunday.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters

Late in their careers, legends are masters at rationing excellence. It is an act of self-preservation, for trying to radiate class for sustained periods can often be energy sapping. Instead, they choose to remain steady, hang in there when needed, and go for the kill in short bursts.

On a hot Sunday afternoon at Centre Court here, Novak Djokovic did exactly this to quell the challenge from Roman Safiullin 7-6(6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

It was a record 106th match-win for the 39-year-old Serb at Wimbledon as he went past Roger Federer, and it propelled him into his ninth straight singles quarterfinal at the All England Club.

Good going

At the start, it was Safiullin, with his ruffled look, loose-fitting T-shirt and expansive style, who was better. He ran up a 5-2 lead as Djokovic struggled with his depth and appeared troubled by the sun directly hitting his eyes while serving.

Safiullin also had significant momentum coming into the match. Grass is one surface where the value of early round results compounds. The Russian had started in the qualifying, beaten the 12th seed Andrey Rublev in the opening round and then ousted rising star Joao Fonseca in the third.

Six matches are generally good enough to get a feel for the lawns and find your footing on the slippery turf, and Safiullin, whose best result at a Major is also at Wimbledon (quarterfinals in 2023), seemed at ease.

Champion stuff

But not for nothing is Djokovic a seven-time titlist at SW19, and he showed this in the eighth game of the first set by erasing two set-points with a service winner and an inch-perfect ace.

The value of this hold was fully realised in the subsequent game when he broke the Safiullin serve after recalibrating his power and range. The set was secured in the tie-break for the loss of six points.

In the second stanza, Djokovic, again, chose his moments wisely. He broke in the sixth game after earning a break-point with a searing forehand winner, and then executed two first-rate serve-and-volley points at 5-3, 30-30.

In the third set, however, the 24-time Slam champion’s level dropped. After an early trade of breaks, he fought hard in the sixth game to deny Safiullin five chances to go 4-2 up by coming up with aces, on-the-run passes, lobs and volleys. The pressure, though, eventually told, as the World No. 132 took it on the sixth opportunity, and held on to 6-3.

But the 28-year-old’s honeymoon ended there as Djokovic stepped it up a notch to zoom 3-0 ahead in the fourth set. Safiullin wilted, and the stunning low volley on match-point summed up Djokovic’s overall superiority. “I don’t get to feel inferior from the back of the court often, but I did today,” Djokovic said later.

“I didn’t want to stay in the rallies [for long]. I had to change things up, and my accuracy and precision with the first serves got me out of trouble.”

“Survive to thrive” was his mantra, the Serb added. And he did that to a T.

Later, Naomi Osaka, in contrast, only thrived as she reached her first Wimbledon quarterfinal with a 6-2, 7-6(2) over World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

It snapped the Belarusian’s 14 straight quarterfinal or better performances and 20 consecutive tie-break wins at Majors, and was her first straight-sets loss at a Slam since US Open 2020.