Wimbledon Champions Dinner Beckons Boys Winner Ivanov, Girls Doubles Champions Penickova and Valdmannova

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Wimbledon--

Ivan Ivanov admitted that the legendary Wimbledon Champions dinner had crossed his mind in the past few days as he made his way through the Wimbledon boys singles field without dropping a set.

The 16-year-old from Bulgaria assured himself that honor with a convincing 6-2, 6-3 victory over Ronit Karki, ending the impressive run of the American qualifier in front of near capacity audience on Court One.

If the longtime student at the Rafael Nadal Academy was nervous, he showed absolutely no sign of it, making 15 of 16 first serves in his first three service games to take a 4-1 lead.

"I knew my serve is going well," said Ivanov, who did not lose a set in his six victories, winning all four of the tiebreakers he played. "I wanted it to go well very badly, so I could have position on the court. I was feeling my serve very well today, probably my best weapon."

Ivanov inevitably did come down from that lofty percentage, ending with a first serve percentage of 65, but he was still able to control the court with his depth and pace, hitting 22 winners and making only 15 unforced errors.

Karki was able to adjust after saving two break points to keep from falling behind 4-0, but he never got any closer than deuce in any Ivanov service game, who did not a face break point in the match. In the second set, Ivanov used his potent forehand to break for a 3-1 lead and kept that break in the second and last deuce game of the match on his serve with an ace--in by the smallest of margins on the Electronic Line Calling replay--that gave him a game point. Karki made an unforced forehand error, and that proved to be the last of the match's drama, as much as the ever growing crowd, arriving on site for the men's final, were hoping otherwise.

Karki held in his next two service games, forcing Ivanov to serve out the match. Ivanov finally showed he was not immune to pressure, missing his first serve on the first four points, but he did not double fault and Karki did not take advantage of his opportunities, making an unforced error on a second serve return to give Ivanov two match points. 

Karki made a good return on the first, forcing an error from Ivanov, but a devious backhand on the sideline in the next rally ended it, with Ivanov collapsing on the baseline, flat on his back, arms extended, to celebrate the first Wimbledon title for a Bulgarian since Grigor Dimitrov won here in 2008.

Karki felt he handled the occasion as well, credited Ivanov for his commitment to playing aggressively throughout the match.

"I think handled my nerves pretty well, stayed calm the whole match, didn't get too down on myself," said the 17-year-old from New Jersey. "But he definitely played a great match. I felt the pressure from him from the first point, going for shots and that ended up paying off. He took more risks, and on that second match point I thought he'd play a low-risk ball, keep the rally going, but he played with a lot of balls today, and that shot  just reflects it."

Karki, playing his eighth match of the tournament, said he felt fine physically, and while he appreciated the day off Saturday, would have had no problem playing the final then.

"Honestly I felt I could have played a match yesterday, I felt good," Karki said. "I was recovering pretty good the whole week, physically I felt great yesterday, but I felt even better today."

Karki's next tournament is the USTA Nationals in Kalamazoo, less than three weeks away, and he has gained added confidence in his game from his results this week. 

"It just gives me more confidence that I can play at a very high level," Karki said. "Obviously it's a little different, playing on grass and all, but it's more about the competing. I had a lot of matches where I was kind of behind and found a way to figure it out and not panic, so I think from that perspective, it will help me a lot to grow as a player and as a competitor."

Ivanov also was able to zero in on the mental strides he made since he lost in the semifinals at Roland Garros last month.

"My discipline, that's something that I'm really working on," said Ivanov, who will attempt to win back-to-back junior slam titles in New York, as Dimitrov did in 2008. "My way of being on the court from the beginning to the end. And not disconnecting at any point is something that I had been working on. I think that's what I did better in London, than in Paris."

After taking longer than normal to fall asleep last night in anticipation of the final, Ivanov can now relax and address another problem that is not related to playing in a first junior slam final on Wimbledon's Court One: how he'll find formal wear for the Champions Dinner.

"Well right now we're dealing with it," Ivanov said. "I didn't expect I'm going to win. So that's a good problem to have."

If Ivanov didn't expect to be attending the Champions Dinner, the girls doubles champions were even more surprised to be in that position, with Kristina Penickova of the United States and Vendula Valdmannova of the Czech Republic both scrambling for partners prior to teaming up at last week's J300 in Roehampton.

Although the No. 8 seeds lost in the quarterfinals there, and dropped their opening set in the first round at Wimbledon, they emerged as champions with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 5 seeds Thea Frodin and Julieta Pareja of the United States.

"I think that first set was even necessary to lose," said Penickova, who won the Australian Open girls title in January with twin sister Annika, who is out with an injury. "They [first round opponents] definitely had an interesting game, so it took a little bit to adjust, but once we got to the third set, once we adjusted, I think we got a pretty good rhythm."

Valdmannova, whose initial partner, 2024 Orange Bowl champion Tereza Krejcova, also withdrew with an injury, was delighted to have a slam champion available when she was seeking a new partner.

"I was just like, hey, are we playing doubles?" Penickova said. "And I said sure," Valdmannova said. "And here we are."

After dropping that first set, Valdmannova and Penickova won their next three match 7-6, 6-2, and acknowledged they were ready for those tight moments.

"I've had a lot of tiebreakers in doubles," Penickova said. "In those situations, you just say, here we go, there's nothing to lose in the end, so you just kind of go for it." "She knows what to do," Valdmannova said. "She's the boss."

In the final, they avoided a tiebreaker by saving all five break points they faced while converting three out of five in the 59-minute final on Show Court 12.

After several enthusiastic hugs to celebrate on court, Penickova and Valdmannova turned their attention to the perks of a Wimbledon title.

"We get to pick out dresses," Penickova said, with Wimbledon supplying many options for the champions to choose from. "They have hairdressers and makeup," Valdmannova said, with a mixture of excitement and anticipation in her voice.

For Penickova, it was novel to play alongside someone other than her sister, but her comfortable level with Valdmannova was evident throughout the week.

"It's definitely different," Penickova said. "But I think we understand each other really well, obviously, because we both speak Czech, so I think that really, really helps, and we've known each other for a while now. Obviously I miss playing with my sister, but it's also amazing playing with her."

The 14 and under champions were crowned today, also on Show Court 12, with Mortiz Freitag of Austria and Sakino Miyazawa of Japan claiming the titles.

Freitag defeated Rafael Pagonis 4-6, 6-1, 10-4, while Sakino Miyazawa of Japan also came from behind, beating Sofia Bielinska of Ukraine 3-6 7-5, 10-5.

I'll have more on the 14s finals in an article for Tennis Recruiting Network later this month, but in my conversation with Freitag after his match and before the men's final, he revealed that his favorite pro player was Jannik Sinner, who beat two-time defending champion Carlos Alcarez 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to close out the 2025 Wimbledon Championships.

"It is Jannik Sinner," the 13-year-old, who bears a definite resemblance to the ATP World No. 1. "I like the way he is playing and I'm also a little bit like him. I hope he's winning today."

The American trio closed out their tournament today with group consolation finals, with Tristan Ascenzo defeating Yu Ting Wu of China 6-4, 7-6(4) and Carol Shao beating Emery Combs 6-3, 6-3 in an all-USA contest.

All the boys results are here; the girls results are here.