16-year-old outstanding person from Nadal Academy, Ivan Ivanov, “Fire for Tennis” | ATP Journey
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16-year-old Nadal Academy outstanding figure Ivanov, 1st young man, opens fire for tennis
Bulgarians win Wimbledon and American Open Boys singles this year
September 12, 2025
Sarah Steele/Getty Images
Ivan Ivanov celebrates his American Open Boys singles victory.
By ATP staff
Rafael Nadal first reached the top of the PIF ATP rankings in August 2008, shortly after, defeating Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final, widely regarded as one of the best games in tennis history.
Ivan Ivanov was not born until October of that year. But fast forward 16 years, Movistar’s Bulgarian Train on Rafa Nadal Academy was the No. 1 player in the ITF junior rankings, winning new victories at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
The teenager was under a lot of pressure to perform in New York and performed in the teenage world that dominated Wimbledon champions, but he showed little tension when capturing another Grand Slam title from Flushing Meadows.
“[It was] Very difficult, that’s for sure. [There were] Ivanov told atptour.com what you expect and what you expect from all your eyes. This is something you have to take very specifically. But I can see it manages it well and I’m very happy with the result. ”
Ivanov is not from the family of tennis players. But his father gave him the first racket and he hasn’t looked back.
“I just started the game. I met my first coach and I like this [there was] “Just a contact and someone close to me, they made me shoot to tennis,” Ivanov said.
“I really liked racket sports at the beginning. I liked watching some old-fashioned tennis with my mom, like Roger and Stan. I mean, they’re not that old school, but I just like watching them, I just want to try it. I really like it, I really like the sport, which makes me very happy.”
Stan Wawrinka, 40, is a Bulgarian elder for 24 years and is still playing. Bulgarians also look up to the country man Grigor Dimitrov and 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic, who claimed that their first Grand Slam title was born Ivanov. Four years ago, the Bulgarians moved to Spain to train at the academy of the same name in Nadal.
“Of course, it’s very difficult, because I’m away from my parents and not from my mother.” “But things [is] I managed to accomplish this and they were able to do it as much as possible [so] This gave me greater confidence in my decisions and gave me more special reasons. ”
The 16-year-old explained that he particularly enjoyed working with the academy staff. Nadal also followed Ivanov’s growth and congratulated him after winning the U.S. Open.
“They were all very good to me, they were very good to everyone,” Ivanov said. His main coach was Jeremy Persan. “I like them. I love being in the academy and I’m so grateful to be there.”
Congratulations to Ivan for winning Wimbledon? ref_src = twsrc%5etfw”>@wimbledon& @usopen juvenile!
Congratulations to all @rnadalacademy team! 👏🏻👏🏻
– Rafa Nadal (@rafaelnadal) September 6, 2025
Ivanov joined Dimitrov and Filip Peliwo in the same year, becoming the third boy of the century, occupying Wimbledon and the U.S. Open trophy. The Bulgarians believed that he met Dimitrov first when he was a young man in Sofia.
“He gave me some good compliments about my game. He gave me some advice,” Ivanov said. “I’m very motivated to keep going.”
He said the pair, who also likes to play golf, read books from books like Jules Verne and watch movies, “I like to be more calm.”
But on the court, Ivanov is a hot competitor, climbing to 795 in the PIF ATP ranking. This week, he represented Bulgaria in the Davis Cup for the first time.
