The 17-year-old has followed her first professional title with another victory over a tournament’s top seed. After years of promising junior results, the Indian teenager is beginning to make her mark on the professional circuit.
Ten days after winning her first professional singles title, Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi found herself facing another tournament’s top seed.
The opponent was Anastasia Gasanova, a former World No. 121 ranked more than 500 places above her. The location was the W35 Monastir tournament in Tunisia, where the 17-year-old Indian had to again negotiate qualifying just to reach the main draw.
And, once again, she won.
Rajeshwaran Revathi recovered from a set down to defeat Gasanova 3–6, 6–2, 6–4 on Wednesday, 21 October, extending a winning run that began earlier this month in Lagos, Portugal.
A day later, she added a 6–3, 6–0 victory over the Netherlands’ Demi Tran to reach the quarterfinals.
For a player who entered October ranked outside the world’s Top 1,000, the change in circumstances has been fast, and considerable.
Speaking to reporters after her Lagos title, Rajeshwaran Revathi explained that she had approached the tournament without setting herself ambitious targets.
“I think, first of all, I came in with no expectations,” she told the Indo-Asian News Service.
That approach has served her rather well in the last couple of weeks.
Two Tournaments, Two Top Seeds Beaten
Rajeshwaran Revathi’s victory over Gasanova was the biggest of her career by her opponent’s ranking.
The Indian entered the match ranked World No. 726, while Gasanova was No. 196.
The Russian had reached a career-high No. 121 in 2022 and competed in the Wimbledon main draw earlier this season.
Experience initially appeared to be telling, as Gasanova took the opening set 6–3, putting the teenager under pressure to recover against an opponent accustomed to competing at a higher level.
Rajeshwaran Revathi responded by taking the second set 6–2 before securing the decider 6–4.
The victory extended her professional singles winning streak to nine matches.
What makes the result particularly interesting is that she had faced a remarkably similar challenge at her previous tournament. At the W35 event in Lagos, she drew top seed Justina Mikulskyte in the opening round. That match began even less promisingly.
Rajeshwaran Revathi fell behind 0–5 in the first set before producing an extraordinary recovery to win 7–5, 6–1.
She later explained that a glance at the court clock had helped change her mindset.
The first set had been slipping away so quickly that she became determined not to lose it in less than half an hour.
“So I just tried to stay,” she recalled.
The comeback would prove to be quite the turning point in her season.
Rajeshwaran Revathi went on to win the Lagos title without dropping a set in the main draw.
Less than two weeks later, she has beaten another top seed.
A First Professional Title — and an Indian Tennis Record
Rajeshwaran Revathi’s victory in Lagos was significant for more than the trophy itself.
After coming through qualifying, she defeated Spain’s Celia Cervino Ruiz 6–4, 6–2 in the final to secure her maiden professional singles title.
She also won the doubles championship alongside Ukraine’s Yelyzaveta Kotliar.
According to the International Tennis Federation, she was 17 years and 121 days old when she won the singles title, making her the youngest Indian player on record to win a women’s World Tennis Tour singles championship at W35 level or higher.
The previous Indian benchmark belonged to Sania Mirza, who won a title at that level aged 17 years and 337 days in 2004.
It is a notable record, particularly given Mirza’s standing in Indian tennis.
But Rajeshwaran Revathi was quick to dismiss suggestions that her achievement placed her above the former Grand Slam doubles champion.
“Well, I don’t think you can actually surpass her,” she said.
She described Mirza as an idol whose influence had helped make tennis more visible in India.
The comparison is understandable, but the teenager appears more interested in establishing her own career than measuring herself against the country’s most successful female tennis player.
Her Lagos title also produced a dramatic ranking improvement. Having entered the event ranked No. 1,073, she climbed to No. 726 in the rankings published on 19 October, and at time of writing, as a live ranking of 716.
The improvement has already helped bring her closer to stronger professional competition.
And her results in Monastir suggest she is capable of competing against players ranked considerably higher.
Finding Confidence on the Professional Circuit
The most interesting comments from Rajeshwaran Revathi’s post-Lagos interview concerned confidence.
She acknowledged that winning her first professional title had changed how she viewed her own ability.
Until recently, much of her experience had come through junior tournaments, where she had established an impressive record but was still learning how her game would translate against older professionals.
The teenager explained that she wanted to carry that belief into future tournaments rather than treat the title as a destination.
“And that sort of confidence is developed in this week for sure,” she said.
Her subsequent results suggest the confidence has carried over.
After travelling from Portugal to Tunisia, she came through qualifying in Monastir and immediately defeated the highest-ranked player in the draw.
She then followed that victory by losing just three games against Demi Tran in the second round.
Rather than relying on wild cards or occasional appearances in larger tournaments, Rajeshwaran Revathi is beginning to earn opportunities through her results, and the graft of moving through qualifying draws.
The transition from junior tennis to the professional circuit is rarely straightforward, and players who excel against their own age group often need time to adjust to the physical demands and consistency of experienced opponents.
Rajeshwaran Revathi is starting to discover that she can compete at this level.
A Change of Academy and a New Direction
Another significant development in Rajeshwaran Revathi’s career has taken place away from competition.
After spending time at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, she recently moved her training base to the Elite Tennis Centre in southern France.
She confirmed the change during her October interview, explaining that she and her team had decided a different environment would better suit her development.
The decision was made around the time of the US Open.
Her Lagos title came shortly afterwards, with Elite Tennis Centre founder Jean-René Lisnard guiding her during the tournament.
Rajeshwaran Revathi has spoken positively about her experience at Nadal’s academy, particularly the opportunity to learn from established players and coaches.
She described Rafael Nadal as an inspiring presence and recalled receiving advice from Toni Nadal. But she also made clear that her development requires constant reassessment.
The move to France appears to be part of that process.
She wants to compete more frequently at professional level while continuing to work on her physical conditioning and technical development.
The immediate priority is to improve her ranking, gain entry into stronger tournaments and build the experience required to compete consistently.
From Coimbatore to the Professional Tour
Rajeshwaran Revathi’s emergence has been several years in the making.
Born in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, she began playing tennis as a child and started taking the sport seriously around the age of ten. Winning the Indian Under-12 national championship in 2022 was an important early milestone.
She subsequently enjoyed considerable success on the ITF junior circuit.
In February 2025, aged just 15, she reached the semifinals of the Mumbai WTA 125 tournament after receiving a qualifying wild card. The ITF identified her as the first player born in 2009 to reach a semifinal at that level.
She has also competed in all four junior Grand Slams this year, winning a match at Roland Garros and the US Open.
Her junior achievements have continued.
As of October 2026, the ITF credited her with nine junior singles titles, including three J300 championships.
Those results helped establish her reputation as one of India’s most promising young players. She has also received financial support through the Grand Slam Player Development Program.
The ITF reports that she has been awarded a total of US$75,000 in Grand Slam Player Grants, funding designed to help emerging players manage the substantial costs of international competition.
That assistance is particularly valuable for young players attempting to establish themselves on the professional circuit.
Travel, accommodation, coaching and tournament expenses can quickly become significant obstacles, even for talented juniors. For Rajeshwaran Revathi, the support has helped provide access to the international competition necessary for her development.
The Next Step Is Already Taking Shape
Rajeshwaran Revathi’s immediate future includes another opportunity on a bigger stage.
She has received a main-draw wild card for the Chennai Open, a WTA 250 tournament scheduled for 2–8 November.
It will give her the opportunity to compete at home against stronger opposition and continue testing the progress she has made in recent weeks.
Before then, however, she has unfinished business in Monastir. Her victory over Demi Tran has carried her into the quarterfinals, extending a run that began with her first professional title in Lagos.
The challenge now is to keep producing results without allowing expectations from a country with a massive population, to become a distraction.
That was something she addressed directly after winning in Portugal.
Rajeshwaran Revathi explained that she did not want to enter tournaments assuming she should win them. Instead, she preferred to concentrate on playing well and learning from the experience.
“I want to go play and enjoy,” she said.
It is a straightforward approach, but one that has served her well during a remarkable fortnight.
Two weeks ago, she was just a 17 year old trying to gain some experience through ITF qualifying draws. She now has a title, an Indian age record, two victories over tournament top seeds and a place in another ITF quarterfinal.
For the moment, the results are doing the talking. And they are becoming increasingly difficult to overlook.
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