Arnav Parkar took a quiet approach. He climbed the ladder one step at a time, starting with the lowly internationals in India before moving across the Asian region and eventually to the top tier. The 18-year-old made his debut at the junior Grand Slam this year, in his final season at the club, and has improved with each tournament. On Wednesday, this steady rise reached a crucial moment when Paparkar became the first Indian in 36 years to reach the Wimbledon boys’ quarterfinals Leander Pa he raised the title in 1990.The 6ft 1 inch Indian, who is ranked 19th in the youth rankings, dispatched Japan’s Ryo Tabata 6-2, 6-1 in 52 minutes to book his place in the quarter-finals, where he will face American seed Jordan Lee. Paparkar will be looking to turn Lee around, having lost their previous meetings, including their most recent clash at the J300 Roehampton in June.Yuki Bhambri, who won the junior Australian Open in 2009, reached the US Open quarterfinals the same year and remains the last Indian before Paparkar to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. Tabata, who had beaten Paparkar twice before, including once the Indian led 5-2 in a decider and held on for five points, did not fare well physically. As the match went on, he struggled with his work and eventually stopped adding to his pitch.“The match was in my head. I was like, I can’t lose like that again. I’m better now mentally, I’m staying calm… I’m telling myself, it’s okay, it’s a game of tennis,” said a beaming Paparkar.Parkar was aware of the physical challenges of the Japanese footballer.“I realized that he was struggling with his work, and sometimes players feel better in the game, so I just look at what I can do in the game,” he added.Parkar produced another impressive display, shooting eight acres and scoring 23 of 25 points in his first game. His fastest delivery of the day came at 208 km/h in the second set, while the average speed of his first trips was 196 km/h.The Indian has two training bases, at home in Pune, where he works with Hemant Bendre, and at the Soto Academy in Spain, where he trains under Nigel Beavers. Paparkar credits Bendre for helping improve his career by changing his routine.“If you can see that my swimming is slowing down, my coach told me in April that it is better to fix this now because it can prevent injuries,” he said. “It’s given me a better song and it’s made me more flexible.”