THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 13, 2025

Ivan Ivanov

Press Conference

I. IVANOV/R. Karki

6-2, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You must be absolutely delighted, Wimbledon champion, how amazing. How fantastic. How phenomenal does that sound?

IVAN IVANOV: Well, I mean, it's a big pleasure, right, to play here in Court No. 1, which the other slams they don't do it. They don't do as big court as here. It's a privilege, right? It's a big court, and I enjoyed it.

My main goal was to enjoy and take the experience.

Q. How big a moment is this for sort of Bulgarian tennis? We've spoken that this is the first Grand Slam title for a Bulgarian player. How important is it do you feel for Bulgarian tennis?

IVAN IVANOV: The last champion was Grigor in 2008, right. So for me was a privilege to play final, that's for sure. And to be a great battle today was something very nice, too.

Q. How big do you think this could be for you winning the junior Grand Slam? I know you want to go on to bigger things. For your age, it's one of the biggest things you can win.

IVAN IVANOV: As I say yesterday, for me was a perfect way to improve my game on grass. Especially it's a different surface. It's more beautiful. It's many more rules that you need to be aware of. So it was a very nice, let's say, practice, a bigger practice.

I take it. I take, of course, the final and the win. So I'm very happy about it.

Q. You looked so comfortable out there, like I belong on this court, the big stage. You looked so confident. Is that how it felt to you?

IVAN IVANOV: Well, the last night I could not say the same. I almost sleep.

Yes, I felt very comfortable. Especially after the first couple of games, I find my game, I find the way I have to play. Then the big court, afterwards I realize I play there, I'm the winner, right? So it was something special.

Q. Were you really dreaming of it last night? Was your sleep interrupted by these dreams?

IVAN IVANOV: Well, of course, I had to go to sleep one hour before my bedtime just so I can focus. I couldn't sleep at my bedtime. So one hour and a half I was just rotating in my bed and not be able to sleep.

But today when I went in the court, I was enjoying. The pressure was out. I was very happy.

Q. From Paris and now winning the title here, is there one thing in your game that you discovered that you didn't know?

IVAN IVANOV: As I say before in some interviews, my discipline. That's something that I'm really working on. My discipline, 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. I think that's what I did better in London than in Paris.

Q. Any text from Rafa yet?

IVAN IVANOV: We'll see. I didn't have time to check my phone, but that's just nice.

Q. In the first three service games you were 15 of 16 on first serves made. Did you realize you were serving that well?

IVAN IVANOV: No. I mean, I knew my serve is going well. I wanted it to go well very badly so I can have the, you know, position, the well position on the court.

Yeah, I was feeling my serve very well today. Probably my best weapon today.

Q. And that means you weren't really nervous, right? I mean, because when you're serving or when you're nervous, your serves are what kind of suffered most of the time.

IVAN IVANOV: Yeah, yeah, for sure. This is one of the things. The serve goes with the confidence most of the time. You really have to build up the way of the confidence of the serve.

Q. US Open juniors. Grigor won this and that in 2008. Will that be a goal for you now?

IVAN IVANOV: Well, for sure. I'm going there. As well, I'm going to enjoy the experience of US. It's another big stadium. It's another great tournament.

The winning depends of my game, that's for sure. I have to find my game, and then the winning is afterwards.

Q. How will you celebrate tonight?

IVAN IVANOV: How will I celebrate? Probably I'll go to the winner's dinner. I was very excited. I was thinking about it, like, a lot the last couple of days. Yeah, this is something that I would love to go.

Q. No black tie?

IVAN IVANOV: Well, right now we're dealing with it. So yeah, I didn't expect I'm going to win. So that's a good problem.

Q. When do you think that you'll play in front of a crowd that big again?

IVAN IVANOV: Well, I don't know. That depends on me. That depends of how hard I work. Hopefully in the next couple of years I will be very happy.

Q. Have you always been this confident that you would be making it? Has the self-belief always been that strong or is that something you've gained recently?

IVAN IVANOV: Confidence comes with the way of practice, for me at least. So the way practice is the way how I'm going to have my confidence on court. If I practice well, my tournament goes well. So confidence goes with that.

I always have that self-confidence outside the court, right, inside the court, but the main thing, the main winning, is coming with the confidence you build in practice.