Bulgarian Pair in Wimbledon Junior Semis

For the first time in 25 years, two Bulgarian players have reached the boys' singles semifinals at the Wimbledon Juniors Championships. Ivan Ivanov and Alexander Vasilev achieved the feat on Thursday, replicating the 2000 success of Todor Enev and Radoslav Lukaev, CE Report quotes BTA

Ivanov, 16, continued his flawless run with a straight-sets 6-3, 7-6(4) win over Slovenia’s Ziga Sesko, marking his fourth consecutive victory without dropping a set. Eighteen-year-old Vasilev needed over two hours to overcome Thijs Boogaard 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.

With Ivanov and Vasilev on opposite sides of the draw, a historic all-Bulgarian final remains possible. Ivanov will face Germany’s Max Schoenhaus, who beat him in the Roland Garros semifinals, while Vasilev takes on American Ronit Karki.

The last and only Bulgarian to win Wimbledon Juniors was Grigor Dimitrov in 2008. Ivanov and Vasilev currently rank 6th and 10th, respectively, in the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Rankings, and Ivanov was named among the pre-tournament favorites by the ITF.