Purav Raja

Indian tennis player

Purav Raja

Raja at the 2018 French Open
Country (sports)	India
Residence	Mumbai, India
Born	(1985-12-07) 7 December 1985 (age 40) Mumbai, India
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Turned pro	2005
Retired	2023[1]
Plays	Right-handed
Prize money	US$598,677
Singles
Career record	0–1
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 813 (30 July 2007)
Doubles
Career record	67–87
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 52 (17 July 2017)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	3R (2018)
French Open	3R (2017)
Wimbledon	2R (2017)
US Open	2R (2017)

Purav Raja (/ˈpʊəræv ˈrɑːdʒə/ POOR-av RAH-jə;^[2] born 7 December 1985) is an former Indian professional tennis player. He specializes in doubles and competes on the ATP World Tour. He has won two ATP doubles titles and represents India in the Davis Cup.

Personal and early life

Purav Raja grew up in Mumbai and began playing tennis when he was 7 years old. He cites indoor carpet as his preferred surface, with his favourite shot being the drop shot. Raja was educated at Millfield in Somerset.^[3]

Raja is very active in the Ananda Ashran orphanage and The Fellowship of the Physically Handicapped in Mumbai. He splits his training between Mumbai and Bromley.^[4]

Professional career

Early years

Raja turned pro in year 2005.^[5] He started with ITF tour finding negligible success in singles but continued to excel in doubles. In year 2007 he started emerging as a doubles specialist as he went on to win 4 ITF titles. He followed his success in year 2008 with four more ITF doubles titles.^[6] The same year he reached his first ATP Challenger doubles final at New Delhi Challenger 4 partnering with compatriot Rohan Gajjar.^[7] He won his first doubles ATP Challenger title at 2009 Karshi Challenger with his Australian Partner Sadik Kadir.^[8]

2010–2012

From year 2010 Raja started finding consistent success at ATP Challenger tour. In year 2010 he reached four Challenger finals and won a title at 2010 Dunlop World Challenge in Tokyo with partner Treat Conrad Huey. In 2011 Raja reached three challenger finals winning one of it at 2011 Trofeo Paolo Corazzi. His performance dipped slightly in 2012. He reached only two Challenger finals and could not win a title after three successful years.

2013: Breakthrough, First ATP world tour title

In February, Raja made his Davis Cup debut against Korea. He partnered with Indian doubles legend Leander Paes and won his debut tie.^[9]

2013 proved to be breakthrough year for Raja. He played most of the season with his most successful partner Divij Sharan. The pair performed consistently and reached 5 Challenger finals winning a title at Kyoto Challenger, Japan. Raja and Divij found their biggest success by winning their first ATP world tour title at 2013 Claro Open in Bogotá, Colombia. They defeated second-seed French-Dutch combination of Édouard Roger-Vasselin and Igor Sijsling in the finals.^[10]

They also entered qualifying draw at 2013 Wimbledon Championships and successfully qualified for main draw. They lost in first round to Nicholas Monroe and Simon Stadler. This was the first match at a Grand Slam event for both Raja and Divij.^[11]

As a result of good run Raja entered top 100 rankings for the first time in his career. He also finished year inside top 100 doubles rankings at 90.

2014

Raja's performance dipped a bit in year 2014. He could reach only two Challenger finals winning only one title. He won the title with Divij Sharan at Kyoto Challenger in Japan.^[12] His performance at ATP world tour level was also poor with his best finish as a semifinal appearance at Zagreb Indoors. As a result, his rankings fell out of top 100 and he finished year at 130.

2015

Raja started season on strong note. He reached to semifinals at Chennai Open. In February, he partnered with Fabrice Martin and made to the finals at Zagreb Indoors. This was Raja's second ATP world tour level final. They lost to second seeds Marin Draganja and Henri Kontinen in the finals.^[13]But after strong performance at ATP world tour level Raja started to struggle with his form. He could make it to only one Challenger final in first half of the season. He made good comeback in second half. He won a title at Portorož Challenger and made it to the finals at Hua Hin Challenger. He finished the year at no. 93 ranking in doubles.

2016: Second ATP world tour title

2016 proved to be very good year for Raja. He played for most part of the year with compatriot Divij Sharan and together they reached 6 ATP Challenger finals winning 4 of it. They won titles at Manchester Trophy Challenger, Aegon Surbiton Trophy, Open Castilla y León and Pune Challenger. The pair also won their second ATP world tour title at Los Cabos Open, Mexico. They defeated pair of Jonathan Erlich and Ken Skupski in the finals.^[14]

In Grand Slams, Raja played his first ever match of French Open main draw along with Ivo Karlović of Croatia. But they crashed out in the opening round of the men's doubles event. The duo lost 1–6, 2–6 to ninth seeded Polish-Austrian pair of Łukasz Kubot and Alexander Peya.^[15]

2017

Raja continued his good form in year 2017. He started the new season on strong note by reaching to his fourth ATP world tour final at 2017 Chennai Open with partner Divij Sharan. In an all Indian final they lost to the team of Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan.^[16]

He reached three Challenger finals and won all of it. He won Bordeaux Challenger with Divij.^[17] In November, he won back to back titles in two consecutive weeks at Knoxville and Champaign with Leander Paes.^[18]

This was the first year in Raja's career where he played in main draw of all four Grand Slams. He played with Divij Sharan in first three slams of the year and partnered with Leander Paes for US Open. He crashed out in opening round at Australian Open, reached third round at French Open and lost in second round at Wimbledon and US Open.

In September, Raja played his second Davis Cup match with Rohan Bopanna in world group play-offs against Canada. But they lost to pair of Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil.^[19]

Raja reached his career best ranking of 52 on 17 July 2017 and finished the year with doubles ranking of 60.

2018

Raja registered his best result at Australian Open by reaching third round. His partner at the event was Leander Paes.^[20]

Raja reached four ATP Challenger finals in 2018. He won two titles at Amex-Istanbul Challenger^[21] and Wolffkran Open^[22] while finishing as runner-up at Play in Challenger and Bengaluru Open.

On ATP tour he reached only two semifinals and had first round exit at 10 events. At the lack of poor performance on ATP world tour, he finished year at ranking of 90.

ATP career finals

Doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0) ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0) ATP World Tour 250 Series (2–2)

Titles by surface Hard (2–2) Clay (0–0) Grass (0–0)

Titles by setting Outdoor (2–1) Indoor (0–1)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Jul 2013	Colombia Open, Colombia	250 Series	Hard	Divij Sharan	Édouard Roger-Vasselin Igor Sijsling	7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–3)
Loss	1–1	Feb 2015	Zagreb Indoors, Croatia	250 Series	Hard (i)	Fabrice Martin	Marin Draganja Henri Kontinen	4–6, 4–6
Win	2–1	Aug 2016	Los Cabos Open, Mexico	250 Series	Hard	Divij Sharan	Jonathan Erlich Ken Skupski	7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–3)
Loss	2–2	Jan 2017	Chennai Open, India	250 Series	Hard	Divij Sharan	Rohan Bopanna Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan	3–6, 4–6

Challenger finals

Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (21–24)

Doubles: 44 (21–23)

Outcome	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score
Loss	0–1	Aug 2008	New Delhi 4, India	Hard	Rohan Gajjar	Harsh Mankad Ashutosh Singh	6–4, 4–6, [9–11]
Win	1–1	Aug 2009	Karshi, Uzbekistan	Hard	Sadik Kadir	Andis Juška Deniss Pavlovs	6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Loss	1–2	Jun 2010	Rome 3, Italy	Clay	Sadik Kadir	Santiago González Travis Rettenmaier	2–6, 4–6
Loss	1–3	Jun 2010	Reggio Emilia, Italy	Clay	Sadik Kadir	Philipp Oswald Martin Slanar	2–6, 7–5, [6–10]
Loss	1–4	Aug 2010	Beijing, China	Hard	Sadik Kadir	Pierre-Ludovic Duclos Artem Sitak	6–7(4–7), 6–7(5–7)
Win	2–4	Nov 2010	Toyota, Japan	Carpet (i)	Treat Conrad Huey	Tasuku Iwami Hiroki Kondo	6–1, 6–2
Win	3–4	May 2011	Cremona, Italy	Hard	Treat Conrad Huey	Tomasz Bednarek Mateusz Kowalczyk	6–1, 6–2
Loss	3–5	Jul 2011	Recanati, Italy	Hard	Federico Gaio	Frederik Nielsen Ken Skupski	4–6, 5–7
Loss	3–6	Oct 2011	Seoul, South Korea	Hard	Divij Sharan	Sanchai Ratiwatana Sonchat Ratiwatana	4–6, 6–7(3–7)
Loss	3–7	Jun 2012	Fürth, Germany	Clay	Rameez Junaid	Arnau Brugués Davi João Sousa	5–7, 7–6(7–4), [9–11]
Loss	3–8	Nov 2012	Loughborough, United Kingdom	Hard	Divij Sharan	James Cerretani Adil Shamasdin	4–6, 5–7
Win	4–8	Mar 2013	Kyoto, Japan	Carpet	Divij Sharan	Chris Guccione Matt Reid	6–4, 7–5
Loss	4–9	Apr 2013	Leon, Mexico	Hard	Divij Sharan	Chris Guccione Matt Reid	3–6, 5–7
Loss	4–10	May 2013	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Divij Sharan	Prakash Amritraj Rajeev Ram	6–7(1–7), 6–7(1–7)
Loss	4–11	Jun 2013	Nottingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Divij Sharan	Sanchai Ratiwatana Sonchat Ratiwatana	7–6(7–5), 6–7(3–7), [8–10]
Loss	4–12	Oct 2013	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	Hard	Divij Sharan	Mikhail Elgin Teymuraz Gabashvili	4–6, 4–6
Win	5–12	Mar 2014	Kyoto, Japan	Carpet	Divij Sharan	Sanchai Ratiwatana Michael Venus	5–7, 7–6(7–3), [10–4]
Loss	5–13	Aug 2014	Aptos, United States	Hard	Sanam Singh	Ruben Bemelmans Laurynas Grigelis	3–6, 6–4, [9–11]
Loss	5–14	Mar 2015	Guangzhou, China	Hard	Fabrice Martin	Daniel Muñoz de la Nava Aleksandr Nedovyesov	2–6, 5–7
Win	6–14	Aug 2015	Portorož, Slovenia	Hard	Fabrice Martin	Aliaksandr Bury Andreas Siljeström	7–6(7–5), 4–6, [18–16]
Loss	6–15	Nov 2015	Hua Hin, Thailand	Hard	Andre Begemann	Lee Hsin-han Lu Yen-hsun	Walkover
Loss	6–16	Apr 2016	Savannah, United States	Clay	Divij Sharan	Brian Baker Ryan Harrison	7–5, 6–7(4–7), [8–10]
Win	7–16	Jun 2016	Manchester, United Kingdom	Grass	Divij Sharan	Ken Skupski Neal Skupski	6–3, 3–6, [11–9]
Win	8–16	Jun 2016	Surbiton, United Kingdom	Grass	Divij Sharan	Ken Skupski Neal Skupski	6–4, 7–6(7–3)
Win	9–16	Jul 2016	Segovia, Spain	Hard	Divij Sharan	Quino Muñoz Akira Santillan	6–3, 4–6, [10–8]
Win	10–16	Oct 2016	Pune, India	Hard	Divij Sharan	Luca Margaroli Hugo Nys	3–6, 6–3, [11–9]
Loss	10–17	Nov 2016	Bratislava, Slovakia	Hard	Divij Sharan	Ken Skupski Neal Skupski	6–4, 3–6, [5–10]
Win	11–17	May 2017	Bordeaux, France	Clay	Divij Sharan	Santiago González Artem Sitak	6–4, 6–4
Win	12–17	Nov 2017	Knoxville, United States	Hard (i)	Leander Paes	James Cerretani John-Patrick Smith	7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–4)
Win	13–17	Nov 2017	Champaign, United States	Hard (i)	Leander Paes	Ruan Roelofse Joe Salisbury	6–3, 6–7(5–7), [10–5]
Loss	13–18	Mar 2018	Lille, France	Hard	Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan	Hugo Nys Tim Pütz	6–7(3–7), 6–1, [7–10]
Win	14–18	Sep 2018	Istanbul, Turkey	Hard	Rameez Junaid	Timur Khabibulin Vladyslav Manafov	7–6(7–4), 4–6, [10–7]
Win	15–18	Oct 2018	Ismaning, Germany	Carpet	Antonio Šančić	Rameez Junaid David Pel	5–7, 6–4, [10–5]
Loss	15–19	Nov 2018	Bangalore, India	Hard	Antonio Šančić	Max Purcell Luke Saville	6–7(3–7), 3–6
Win	16–19	Nov 2019	Kobe, Japan	Hard (i)	Ramkumar Ramanathan	André Göransson Christopher Rungkat	7–6(8–6), 6–3
Win	17–19	Nov 2019	Pune, India	Hard (i)	Ramkumar Ramanathan	Arjun Kadhe Saketh Myneni	7–6(7–3), 6–3
Win	18–19	Feb 2020	Bangalore, India	Hard	Ramkumar Ramanathan	Matthew Ebden Leander Paes	6–0, 6–3
Win	19–19	Oct 2021	Lisbon, Portugal	Clay	Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan	Nuno Borges Francisco Cabral	7–6(7–5), 6–3
Loss	19–20	Nov 2021	Tenerife, Spain	Hard	Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan	Nuno Borges Francisco Cabral	3–6, 4–6
Loss	19–21	Mar 2022	Biel/Bienne, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Ramkumar Ramanathan	Pierre-Hugues Herbert Albano Olivetti	3–6, 4–6
Loss	19–22	Jul 2022	Indianapolis, USA	Hard (i)	Divij Sharan	Hans Hach Verdugo Hunter Reese	6–7(3–7), 6–3, [7–10]
Win	20–22	Sep 2022	Istanbul, Turkey	Hard	Divij Sharan	Arjun Kadhe Fernando Romboli	6–4, 3–6, [10–8]
Loss	20–23	Oct 2022	Mouilleron-le-Captif, France	Hard (i)	Divij Sharan	Sander Arends David Pel	7–6(7–1), 6–7(6–8), [6–10]
Win	21–23	Nov 2022	Helsinki, Finland	Hard (i)	Divij Sharan	Reese Stalder Petros Tsitsipas	6–7(5–7), 6–3, [10–8]
Loss	21–24	Mar 2023	Les Franqueses del Vallès, Spain	Hard	Divij Sharan	Anirudh Chandrasekar Vijay Sundar Prashanth	5–7, 1–6

Doubles performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

P#

DNQ

A

Z#

PO

G

S

B

NMS

NTI

P

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Updated through the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.

Tournament	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	SR	W–L
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	1R	3R	A	0/2	2–2
French Open	A	A	A	1R	3R	1R	A	0/3	2–3
Wimbledon	1R	1R	1R	A	2R	1R	1R	0/6	1–6
US Open	A	A	A	A	2R	1R	A	0/2	1–2
Win–loss	0–1	0–1	0–1	0–1	4–4	2–4	0–0	0/12	6–12

References

1. "Tennis: Somdev Devvarman, Purav Raja take AITA to court, say reports". scroll.in. 24 September 2024. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
2. "The pronunciation by Purav Raja himself". ATPWorldTour.com. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
3. "Millfield School (Tennis Club)". ClubSpark. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
4. "ATP Bio – Purav Raja". atpworldtour.com. Archived from the original on 22 May 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
5. "Purav Raja – ATP profile". atpworldtour.com. Archived from the original on 2 June 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
6. "Purav Raja – ITF profile". itftennis.com. Archived from the original on 22 May 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
7. "New Delhi Challenger 2008 – Doubles Draw". itftennis.com. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
8. "Karshi Challenger 2009 – Doubles Draw". itftennis.com. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
9. "Davis Cup Profile – Purav Raja". Archived from the original on 24 July 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
10. "Divij Sharan, Purav Raja win first ATP tour title in Bogotá". 21 July 2013. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
11. "Divij and Raja's Wimbledon debut ends in heart-breaking defeat". Press Trust of India. 25 June 2013. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
12. "Divij and Raja clinch first Challenger title in Kyoto". Press Trust of India. 8 March 2014. Archived from the original on 11 August 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
13. "PBZ Zagreb Indoors 2015". Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
14. "Indian Duo Surge To Los Cabos Title". atpworldtour.com. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
15. "French Open 2016: Leander Paes, Sania Mirza win; Purav Raja dislodged". Press Trust of India. 27 May 2016. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
16. Chaudhuri, Sharmistha (9 January 2017). "Chennai Open: Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan win doubles title". Archived from the original on 2 April 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
17. "Sharan, Raja win Bordeaux Challenger". Press Trust of India. 21 May 2017. Archived from the original on 11 August 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
18. Kumaraswamy, K (19 November 2017). "Paes-Raja win second Challenger in a row". Archived from the original on 11 August 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
19. "Davis Cup, India vs Canada: Rohan Bopanna – Purav Raja defeat puts India down 1–2 against Canada". Press Trust of India. 17 September 2017. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
20. "Australian Open: Leander Paes, Purav Raja lose in pre-quarters; Rohan Bopanna advances". Press Trust of India. 21 January 2018. Archived from the original on 11 February 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
21. "Purav Raja wins doubles title in Istanbul Challenger". 16 September 2018. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
22. Banerjee, Krishnendu (17 November 2018). "Bengaluru Open: Purav Raja upbeat despite another final loss". Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.

External links

• Purav Raja at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Purav Raja at the International Tennis Federation
• Purav Raja at the Davis Cup (archived)

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