'It was melted when it got to me, but a KitKat never tasted so good'
It has been a remarkable journey for qualifier Ronit Karki of the United States and the teenager has booked his place in the semi-finals at the Junior Championships, Wimbledon following victory over Poland’s Alan Wazny.
Karki recovered from a set down to prevail 3-6 6-3 6-4 and become the first boy since France Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg – at Wimbledon in 2021 – to reach the last four at a Junior Grand Slam after navigating qualifying.
The 17-year-old will now face Bulgaria’s Alexander Vasilev for a place in the final, while the other semi-final will feature Ivan Ivanov – another Bulgarian – and Roland Garros finalist Max Schoenhaus of Germany.
Incidentally, it is the first time that two Bulgarian boys have reached the semi-finals here at Wimbledon for a quarter of a century – since 2000 when Lukaev Radoslav and Enev Todor achieved the feat.
This is New Jersey-born Karki's best Junior Grand Slam performance after reaching the second round at the Roland Garros Junior Championships last month and falling in qualifying at last year’s US Open.
Asked what his response would have been a week ago had someone told him he would be a Wimbledon semi-finalist, Karki’s response reflected surprise but also self-belief.
“I wouldn’t have thought it would be impossible but being in the semi-finals wouldn’t have been my expectation,” Karki, who is ranked No. 52 in the ITF World Tennis Tour boys’ rankings, told itftennis.com.
“I’m excited, really excited although I’m trying not to get too excited because I am still in the tournament and still have a job to do. I need to perform as well as I can in the semi-finals, but it is very exciting.
“I did not necessarily expect this coming into the tournament and playing qualifying. Nevertheless, I am grateful to be here because I’ve had some close battles that could have gone either way. I’m happy.”
The soaring temperatures on Thursday, which hit 31 degrees Celsius at times, ensured a three-set showdown was physically demanding, reflected by the rate at which Karki downed a glass of water during his post-match media duties.
It transpired also that Karki consumed a fair amount, including a half-melted KitKat, during the third set of his showdown with Wazny, partly to repel the onset of cramp.
“It is great playing a Grand Slam because you have so many facilities at your disposal – a locker room, a gym, everything you need,” said Karki. “They came on court with an ice towel – I didn’t even ask for it, but I ended up using it a lot.
“I felt in the third set that food was just appearing at my bench, and I was just eating. I had a KitKat, banana, strawberries and cream. I was eating all of it because I didn’t want to cramp.
“I was feeling physically bad. I broke the first game in the third set but was not fully confident because I was feeling twitches in my hamstring. After the KitKat, I got some sugar in my body and was able to continue as long as I needed to. It was a little melted when it got to me, but that KitKat did the job.”
A full list of results from the 2025 Junior Championships, Wimbledon can be accessed here