Ronit Karki, a 17-year-old with Indian roots, is turning heads at Wimbledon 2025, as he pursues his dream of a "picture perfect" experience at the prestigious tournament. The New Jersey-born Karki has advanced to the boys' singles final, marking a significant milestone in his junior career.
Karki's journey at Wimbledon has been remarkable. He navigated the qualifying rounds and then defeated F. Thomas, Y. Alexandrescou, J. Kennedy and A. Wazny to reach the semi-finals. In a thrilling semi-final match, Karki overcame Bulgaria's Alexander Vasilev with a score of 5-7, 6-4, 6-1. Karki is the first qualifier to reach the boys' singles final at a Grand Slam since fellow American Noah Rubin won the title at Wimbledon in 2014.
Karki's best Junior Grand Slam performance before Wimbledon 2025 was reaching the second round at the Roland Garros Junior Championships last month. He fell in qualifying at the US Open last year. Ranked No. 52 in the ITF World Tennis Tour boys' rankings, Karki expressed surprise but also self-belief regarding his Wimbledon success. "I wouldn't have thought it would be impossible but being in the semi-finals wouldn't have been my expectation," Karki said. "I'm excited, really excited although I'm trying not to get too excited because I am still in the tournament and still have a job to do. I need to perform as well as I can in the semi-finals, but it is very exciting". He also acknowledged the close battles he faced and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to compete at Wimbledon.
In the final, Karki is set to face Bulgaria's Ivan Ivanov. Ivanov, 16, is the first Bulgarian to reach the final of a Junior Grand Slam since Grigor Dimitrov at the 2008 US Open. Ivanov won his semi-final match against Germany's Max Schoenhaus with a score of 7-6(7), 7-6(5).
Nishesh Basavareddy, another American player with Indian heritage, was also slated to make his main draw debut at Wimbledon 2025 after gaining direct entry into the tournament. Sumit Nagal is India's lone singles representative at Wimbledon 2025. N Sriram Balaji progressed to the second round of doubles.
Beyond the on-court action, Wimbledon 2025 has attracted celebrities and sports personalities. Indian cricket stars like Deepak Chahar, along with his wife Jaya Bhardwaj, and Virat Kohli with his wife Anushka Sharma, have been spotted at the All England Club. British-Indian actor Charithra Chandran was also seen in the royal box.