Maaya Rajeshwaran, 17, wins first pro title at W35 Lagos, breaks Sania Mirza record
Representative image: IGfotojonas / Pixabay
Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi, 17, won the ITF W35 Lagos singles title on October 11, 2026, becoming the youngest Indian woman to win at that level.
What Happened
Indian teenager Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi won her first professional singles title on Sunday, October 11, 2026, at the ITF W35 tournament in Lagos, Portugal. The 17-year-old beat Spain's Celia Cervino Ruiz, the seventh seed, 6-4, 6-2 in the final. The win makes her the youngest Indian woman to take a singles title at the W35 level, a record Sania Mirza had held since 2004. She also won the doubles title at the same event with Ukraine's Yelyzaveta Kotliar.
Key Facts
- Maaya won the W35 Lagos singles final 6-4, 6-2 against seventh seed Celia Cervino Ruiz of Spain on October 11, 2026.
- She went into the tournament ranked world No. 1038 and had to come through qualifying to reach the main draw.
- In the first round she beat the top seed, Justina Mikulskyte, ranked 246th, after trailing 0-5 in the first set.
- She reached the final after Britain's Britt Du Pree gave her a walkover in the semi-final.
- At 17, she broke Sania Mirza's 22-year-old record as the youngest Indian woman to win a W35-level singles title.
- She also took the doubles title, partnering Yelyzaveta Kotliar of Ukraine, making it a two-title week.
- The win comes a few months after she left the Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain, where she had trained.
Why It Matters
Indian women's tennis has been searching for a successor to Sania Mirza for more than a decade. Several promising juniors have come through, but few have turned junior results into wins on the professional tour while still in their teens. A first professional title at 17, earned from qualifying and including a win over a top-250 player, is the kind of step that separates a strong junior from a genuine professional prospect.
The ITF tour is the bottom rung of women's professional tennis. Tournaments are graded by prize money, and W35 events carry more ranking points and stronger fields than the W15 and W25 levels where most teenagers begin. Winning one gives a player a meaningful jump in the world rankings, which in turn decides which tournaments she can enter next. For a player ranked outside the top 1,000, a title like this can open the door to bigger events and, eventually, to qualifying at Grand Slams.
Maaya has been watched closely since 2025, when as a 15-year-old she reached the semi-finals of the WTA event in Mumbai. Reports after the Lagos win said she called Mirza a legend and an idol, and described the title as only a start. Her path also shows a choice many young athletes now face: whether to stay in a big overseas academy or build a training set-up of their own. She chose to leave the Nadal Academy this year, and her first professional title has come within months.
Maaya's breakthrough week
| Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|
| First round | Justina Mikulskyte (top seed, ranked 246) | Won |
| Semi-final | Britt Du Pree (Britain) | Walkover |
| Final | Celia Cervino Ruiz (seventh seed, Spain) | Won 6-4, 6-2 |
Impact
Short-term: The title and the ranking points that come with it should lift Maaya well up from her pre-event ranking of 1038, giving her entry into more W35 and higher-level tournaments in the months ahead.
Long-term: If she keeps converting chances like this, Maaya could work her way towards the top 200, the range that usually brings entry into Grand Slam qualifying. Her success may also encourage more Indian girls and their families to treat tennis as a professional career.
Who is affected: Maaya and her coaches; young Indian tennis players, especially girls, who see a peer winning on the pro tour; the All India Tennis Association and selectors; and fans who have waited for a new face in Indian women's tennis.
Key Takeaway
At 17, Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi won her first professional title at W35 Lagos on October 11, 2026, breaking a record Sania Mirza had held for 22 years.
Questions and Answers
Who is Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi?
She is a 17-year-old Indian tennis player. On October 11, 2026, she won her first professional singles title at the ITF W35 tournament in Lagos, Portugal, and also won the doubles title there.
What record did she break?
She became the youngest Indian woman to win a singles title at the W35 level, a record previously held by Sania Mirza since 2004.
How strong was her run to the title?
Ranked 1038th, she came through qualifying, beat the top seed Justina Mikulskyte, ranked 246th, in the first round after trailing 0-5 in the opening set, received a walkover in the semi-final and won the final 6-4, 6-2.
What is a W35 tournament?
It is a women's event on the ITF World Tennis Tour, the entry level of professional tennis. The number refers to the prize money band, and W35 events carry more ranking points than W15 and W25 events.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
Sourced and fact-checked by the Peepals Global Editorial Team
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