Arnav Paparkar took the quieter route. He climbed the ladder one step at a time, starting at low-level international tournaments in India before making his way to the Asian circuit and finally to the higher levels. The 18-year-old began playing Grand Slam junior events this year, his final season in the category, and has improved with each tournament. On Wednesday, that steady rise reached a milestone as Paparkar became the first Indian in 36 years to reach the Wimbledon boys’ singles quarter-finals, since Leander Paes lifted the title in 1990.The 6ft 1 inch Indian, ranked no. 19 in the junior rankings, defeated Ryo Tabata of Japan, 6-2, 6-1 in 52 minutes to book his place in the quarter-finals, where he will face American qualifier Jordan Lee. Paparkar will be looking to turn the tide against Lee, having lost their previous meetings, including their most recent clash at J300 Roehampton in June.Yuki Bhambri, who won the junior Australian Open in 2009, reached the quarterfinals of the US Open the same year and remains the last Indian before Paparkar to reach the junior Grand Slam quarter-finals. Tabata, who had beaten Paparkar twice before, including once after the Indian led 5-2 in the deciding set and held five match points, was not at his best physically. As the match went on, he struggled with his serve and eventually stopped extending himself in his court coverage.“That match was in my head. I said, I can’t lose again. I’m mentally better now, calmer… I told myself, it’s ok, it’s just another tennis match,” Paparkar said happily.Paparkar is aware of the physical struggles of the Japanese player.“I realized he was struggling with his serve, but sometimes players feel better as a match goes on, so I just focused on what I could do in the match,” he added.Paparkar produced another impressive serving performance, firing eight aces and winning 23 out of 25 points on his first serve. His fastest delivery of the day reached 208 km/h in the second set, while the average speed of his first serves 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 service by tweaking his act.“If you see now my swing is slower and fuller, my coach told me in April that it is better to do that now because it will avoid injuries,” he said. “It gave me a better rhythm and that led to more consistency.”