Ajeet Rai
{{short description|New Zealander tennis player}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox tennis biography
|name = Ajeet Rai
|image =
|caption =
|country
= {{NZL}}
|residence = New Plymouth, New Zealand
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1999|1|18}}
|birth_place = New Plymouth
|height = {{convert|1.88|m|abbr=on}}
Partner
Partner =felicity st baker
|turnedpro =
|plays = Right-handed
|careerprizemoney = $190,456
|singlesrecord = 2–8 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
|singlestitles = 3 ITF
|highestsinglesranking = No. 417 (10 April 2023)
|currentsinglesranking = No. 537 (12 August 2024)
|doublesrecord = 1–3
|doublestitles = 1 Challenger, 14 ITF
|highestdoublesranking = No. 222 (24 June 2024)
|currentdoublesranking = No. 243 (12 August 2024)
|Team = yes
|DavisCupresult = 3–8 (singles 2-8)
|updated = 17 August 2024
}}
Ajeet Shankar Rai (born 18 January 1999) is a New Zealand professional tennis player.
Rai has a career-high singles ranking by the ATP of 417, achieved on 10 April 2023, and a best doubles ranking of world No. 222, reached on 24 June 2024.
Tennis career
=2018=
Rai's first experience of professional tennis was being given a wildcard into qualifying for the Auckland Open, where he was beaten by Taro Daniel in the first round. He played his first senior ITF tournament in Kampala, Uganda, in May, qualifying for the main draw in singles, where he reached the second round. The following week, at the same venue, he was given a wildcard into both doubles and the main draw for singles, and reached the quarterfinals of both.
He reached his first doubles semifinal in China in July, but the highlight of his year to that date would come in September, when he made his Davis Cup debut for New Zealand, partnering Artem Sitak to win their doubles rubber against South Korea, giving Rai a perfect start to his senior international representative career. His first ITF doubles final came in Hua Hin, Thailand, in October, where he and Karunuday Singh lost in a match tie-break to the top seeds, Francis Casey Alcantara and Sonchat Ratiwatana. In singles at the same tournament, he progressed past the quarterfinals for the first time, going all the way to take the title over Manish Sureshkumar in three sets. His season finished with a couple of quarterfinal losses in Futures events in Tây Ninh, Vietnam.
=2019=
Again given a wildcard into qualifying in Auckland, Rai was a game away from defeating Roberto Marcora in the first round before eventually losing in three sets. He and New Zealand junior champion George Stoupe were given a wild card into the doubles, where they lost in the first round to Artem Sitak and Austin Krajicek.
In Uganda on the anniversary of his ITF debut, Rai injured his back severely enough in his second event to need three months' rehabilitation before he returned to the tour in South-East Asia. Well-beaten in his first match, he steadily improved through a series of tournaments to reach another doubles final in Hua Hin in August. By the worst possible luck, his partner, former dual Australian Open junior doubles winner Bradley Mousley, injured his knee in his singles semifinal earlier in the day and had to retire from that match. He played the doubles final, but with very restricted movement the pair were easily beaten by the top-seeded Ratiwatana twins from the host country.
Rai reached two more ITF doubles finals before the end of the year, in Hua Hin two weeks later and in Cancún, Mexico, in late November, finishing runner-up on each occasion.
=2020=
With the ITF Circuit returning to New Zealand for the first time in several years, Rai's first event for 2020 was at the new tournament in Te Anau, where he lost in the quarter-finals of both singles and doubles. At the ASB Classic in Auckland, Rai received a wildcard into both the singles qualifying rounds and the doubles, losing his first match in both. The doubles defeat, however, came at the hands of the eventual champions, Luke Bambridge and Ben McLachlan, and Rai and partner Mackenzie McDonald played extremely well.
Rai's next stop after Auckland was Cancún, where he played three tournaments in as many weeks. The second was the most productive, reaching the quarterfinals in singles and finally securing a doubles title, in his fifth final. Rai then returned home for New Zealand's Davis Cup tie against Venezuela in Auckland, where he lost in singles to Luis David Martínez in three sets. He didn't play again before the international tour was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and his only subsequent events were domestic tournaments such as the New Zealand Premier League, Wellington Open/New Zealand Championships (where he finished runner-up) and the Te Anau Invitational.
=2021=
Rai resumed his international career in June, playing a series of ITF tournaments in Monastir over the next couple of months. He reached several doubles finals but, frustratingly, it took five attempts before he was able to win another title. Apart from a brief trip to Spain to renew his visa, he stayed in Monastir until November, eventually winning six doubles titles from 11 finals before returning to New Zealand.
=2022=
Rai made three more ITF singles finals, winning the last of them. He also took the doubles title at Nonthaburi in his first ATP Challenger event.
ATP Challenger and ITF Circuit finals
=Singles: 6 (3 titles, 3 runner-ups)=
| valign=top
| {|class=wikitable style="font-size:85%" !Legend |
| style="background:moccasin;"
|ATP Challenger |
| style="background:lightblue;"
|ITF 25,000 (1–1) |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|ITF 15,000 (2–2) |
|
| class=wikitable style="font-size:85%"
!Finals by surface |
| Hard (3–3) |
| Clay (0–0) |
|}
| class="sortable wikitable"
!Result !class="unsortable"|No. !{{ns}}Date{{ns}} !Level !Tournament !Surface !Opponent !class="unsortable"|Score |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|bgcolor=98FB98|Win |1. |13 October 2018 |15k |Hua Hin, Thailand |Hard |{{flagicon|IND}} Manish Sureshkumar |6–3, 4–6, 6–4 |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss |1. |28 August 2022 |M15 |Changwon, Korea Rep. |Hard |{{flagicon|KOR}} Lee Jea-moon |4–6, 4–6 |
| bgcolor=lightblue
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss |2. |9 October 2022 |M25 |Tây Ninh, Vietnam |Hard |{{flagicon|VIE}} Lý Hoàng Nam |4–6, 4–6 |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|bgcolor=98FB98|Win |2. |18 December 2022 |M15 |Wellington, New Zealand |Hard (i) [Note 1] |{{flagicon|NZL}} James Watt |6–2, 6–4 |
| bgcolor=lightblue
|bgcolor=98FB98|Win |3. |8 October 2023 |M25 |Cairns, Australia |Hard |{{flagicon|AUS}} Jeremy Beale |3–2, ret. |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss |3. |16 June 2024 |M15 |Hong Kong, China SAR |Hard |{{flagicon|RUS}} Evgenii Tiurnev |4–6, 2–6 |
Note 1: this was an outdoor tournament, but several matches, including the final, were played indoors due to bad weather.
=Doubles: 28 (15 titles, 13 runner-ups)=
| valign=top
| {|class=wikitable style="font-size:85%" !Legend |
| style="background:moccasin;"
|ATP Challenger (1–2) |
| style="background:lightblue;"
|ITF $25,000 (6–1) |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|ITF $15,000 (8–10) |
|
| class=wikitable style="font-size:85%"
!Finals by surface |
| Hard (14–13) |
| Clay (0–0) |
| Grass (1–0) |
|}
| class="sortable wikitable"
!Result !class="unsortable"|No. !{{ns}}Date{{ns}} !Level !Tournament !Surface !Partner !Opponents !class="unsortable"|Score |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss |1. |12 October 2018 |15,000 |Hua Hin, Thailand |Hard |{{flagicon|IND}} Karunuday Singh |{{flagicon|PHI}} Francis Casey Alcantara |1–6, 6–1, [6–10] |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss |2. |24 August 2019 |M15 |Hua Hin, Thailand |Hard |{{flagicon|AUS}} Bradley Mousley |{{flagicon|THA}} Sanchai Ratiwatana |2–6, 0–6 |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss |3. |7 September 2019 |M15 |Hua Hin, Thailand |Hard |{{flagicon|GBR}} George Loffhagen |{{flagicon|TPE}} Ray Ho |6–7(4–7), 2–6 |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss |4. |23 November 2019 |M15 |Cancún, Mexico |Hard |{{flagicon|AUS}} Cameron Green |{{flagicon|HKG}} Skyler Butts |5–7, 5–7 |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|bgcolor=98FB98|Win |1. |1 February 2020 |M15 |Cancún, Mexico |Hard |{{flagicon|IRL}} Simon Carr |{{flagicon|FRA}} Gabriel Petit |6–4, 6–2 |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss |5. |29 May 2021 |M15 |Monastir, Tunisia |Hard |{{flagicon|IND}} Siddhant Banthia |{{flagicon|AUS}} Jeremy Beale |4–6, 4–6 |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss |6. |12 June 2021 |M15 |Monastir, Tunisia |Hard |{{flagicon|AUS}} Jeremy Beale |{{flagicon|IND}} Siddhant Banthia |w/o |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss |7. |26 June 2021 |M15 |Monastir, Tunisia |Hard |{{flagicon|ESP}} Benjamin Winter Lopez |{{flagicon|GBR}} Julian Cash |6–7(1–7), 3–6 |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss |8. |17 July 2021 |M15 |Monastir, Tunisia |Hard |{{flagicon|AUS}} Jeremy Beale |{{flagicon|FRA}} Arthur Bouquier |7–5, 4–6, [7–10] |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|bgcolor=98FB98|Win |2. |7 August 2021 |M15 |Monastir, Tunisia |Hard |{{flagicon|AUS}} Blake Ellis |{{flagicon|JPN}} Taisei Ichikawa |6–2, 6–3 |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|bgcolor=98FB98|Win |3. |11 September 2021 |M15 |Monastir, Tunisia |Hard |{{flagicon|ITA}} Mattia Bellucci |{{flagicon|BRA}} Gabriel Décamps |7–6(7–1), 6–7(5–7), [10–4] |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|bgcolor=98FB98|Win |4. |18 September 2021 |M15 |Monastir, Tunisia |Hard |{{flagicon|AUS}} Li Tu |{{flagicon|FRA}} Martin Breysach |6–0, 6–4 |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss |9. |25 September 2021 |M15 |Monastir, Tunisia |Hard |{{flagicon|ITA}} Giorgio Ricca |{{flagicon|BDI}} Guy Orly Iradukunda |3–6, 6–4, [6–10] |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|bgcolor=98FB98|Win |5. |16 October 2021 |M15 |Monastir, Tunisia |Hard |{{flagicon|ARG}} Mateo Nicolás Martínez |{{flagicon|TUN}} Anis Ghorbel |6–7(1–7), 6–4, [11–9] |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|bgcolor=98FB98|Win |6. |30 October 2021 |M15 |Monastir, Tunisia |Hard |{{flagicon|SUI}} Mirko Martinez |{{flagicon|FRA}} Théo Arribagé |6–4, 1–6, [10–8] |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|bgcolor=98FB98|Win |7. |6 November 2021 |M15 |Monastir, Tunisia |Hard |{{flagicon|SUI}} Mirko Martinez |{{flagicon|BEL}} Pierre-Yves Bailly |3–6, 7–6(7–5), [10–8] |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|bgcolor=98FB98|Win |8. |27 August 2022 |M15 |Changwon, Korea Rep. |Hard |{{flagicon|AUS}} Thomas Fancutt |{{flagicon|KOR}} Jeong Yeong-seok |5–7, 6–4, [10–8] |
| style="background:moccasin;"
|bgcolor=98FB98|Win |9. |Challenger |Nonthaburi, Thailand |Hard |{{flagicon|KOR}} Chung Yun-seong |{{flagicon|PHI}} Francis Casey Alcantara |6–1, 7–6(8–6) |
| style="background:moccasin;"
|bgcolor=FFA07A|Loss |10. |Challenger |Sydney, Australia |Hard |{{flagicon|JPN}} Yuta Shimizu |{{flagicon|AUS}} Blake Ellis |6–4, 5–7, [9–11] |
| style="background:lightblue;"
|bgcolor=98FB98|Win |10. |23 September 2023 |M25 |Darwin, Australia |Hard |{{flagicon|AUS}} Thomas Fancutt |{{flagicon|AUS}} Blake Bayldon |6–1, 6–4 |
| style="background:lightblue;"
|bgcolor=98FB98|Win |11. |25 November 2023 |M25 |Brisbane, Australia |Hard |{{flagicon|AUS}} Thomas Fancutt |{{flagicon|AUS}} Joshua Charlton |6–4, 6–4 |
| style="background:lightblue;"
|bgcolor=98FB98|Win |12. |3 December 2023 |M25 |Carrara, Australia |Hard |{{flagicon|AUS}} Thomas Fancutt |{{flagicon|AUS}} Blake Bayldon |7–1, 7–6(12–10) |
| style="background:moccasin;"
|bgcolor=FFA07A|Loss |11. |Challenger |Indian Wells, USA |Hard |{{flagicon|AUS}} Thomas Fancutt |{{flagicon|USA}} Ryan Seggerman |4–6, 6–3, [3–10] |
| style="background:lightblue;"
|bgcolor=FFA07A|Loss |12. |2 March 2024 |M25 |Traralgon, Australia |Hard |{{flagicon|AUS}} Jesse Delaney |{{flagicon|AUS}} Joshua Charlton |1–6, 3–6 |
| style="background:lightblue;"
|bgcolor=98FB98|Win |13 |23 March 2024 |M25 |Swan Hill, Australia |Grass |{{flagicon|AUS}} Hayden Jones |{{flagicon|AUS}} Jesse Delaney |6–4, 6–4 |
| style="background:lightblue;"
|bgcolor=98FB98|Win |14 |18 May 2024 |M25 |Luan, China |Hard |{{flagicon|CHN}} Sun Fajing |{{flagicon|CHN}} Cui Jie |6–2, 6–2 |
| style="background:#ccccff;"
|bgcolor=FFA07A|Loss |13. |15 June 2024 |M15 |Hong Kong, China |Hard |{{flagicon|IND}} Rishi Reddy |{{flagicon|JPN}} Tomohiro Masabayashi |3–6, 5–7 |
| style="background:lightblue;"
|bgcolor=98FB98|Win |15 |17 August 2024 |M25 |Yinchuan, China |Hard |{{flagicon|CHN}} Wang Aoran |{{flagicon|RSA}} Philip Henning |6–4, 6–4 |
Davis Cup (11)
| class="wikitable" |
| bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|Group membership |
| bgcolor="#FFFFCC"
| World Group (0) |
| bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| Group I (1–8) |
| bgcolor="#FFCCFF"
| Group II (2–0) |
| bgcolor="#99CCFF"
| Group III (0) |
| bgcolor="#FFCC99"
| Group IV (0) |
- {{increase}} {{decrease}} indicates the outcome of the Davis Cup match followed by the score, date, place of event, the zonal classification and its phase, and the court surface.
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
!Rubber outcome !No. !Rubber !Match type (partner if any) !Opponent nation !Opponent player(s) !Score |
| colspan=7|{{decrease}}2–3; 14-15 September 2018; Gimcheon Sports Town Tennis Courts, Gimcheon, South Korea; Asia/Oceania Group I Relegation playoff, 2nd round playoff; Hard (i) surface |
|---|
| bgcolor=#CCFFCC
|bgcolor=98FB98|Victory |1. |III |Doubles (with Artem Sitak) |{{flagicon|KOR}} South Korea |Hong Seong-chan / Lee Jea-moon |7–5, 6–3 |
| colspan=7|{{increase}}3–1; 14-15 September 2019; Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex, Jakarta, Indonesia; Asia/Oceania Zone Group II playoffs (first round); Hard surface |
| bgcolor=#FFCCFF
|bgcolor=98FB98|Victory |2. |I |Singles |Rowspan=2|{{flagicon|INA}} Indonesia |7–6(9–7), 6–3 |
| bgcolor=#FFCCFF
|bgcolor=FFA07A|Defeat |1. |IV |Singles (dead rubber) |3–6, 6–2, [7–10] |
| colspan=7|{{increase}}3–1; 6-7 March 2020; ASB Tennis Centre, Auckland, New Zealand; World Group I Play-offs, 1st round playoff; Hard surface |
| bgcolor=#CCFFCC
|bgcolor=FFA07A|Defeat |2. |II |Singles |{{flagicon|VEN}} Venezuela |7–5, 4–6, 2–6 |
| colspan=7|{{increase}}3–1; 4-5 March 2022; Darling Tennis Center, Las Vegas, United States; World Group I Play-offs, 1st round playoff; Hard surface |
| bgcolor=#CCFFCC
|bgcolor=FFA07A|Defeat |3. |II |Singles |{{flagicon|URU}} Uruguay |4–6, 2–6 |
| colspan=7|{{decrease}}0–5; 16-17 September 2022; Espoo Metro Areena, Espoo, Finland; World Group I 1st round; Hard (i) surface |
| bgcolor=#CCFFCC
|bgcolor=FFA07A|Defeat |4. |II |Singles |{{flagicon|FIN}} Finland |4–6, 3–6 |
| colspan=7|{{decrease}}1–3; 4-5 February 2023; Wilding Park, Christchurch, New Zealand; World Group I Play-offs, 1st round playoff; Hard surface |
| bgcolor=#CCFFCC
|bgcolor=FFA07A|Defeat |5. |I |Singles |Rowspan=2|{{flagicon|BUL}} Bulgaria |6–7(1–7), 2–6 |
| bgcolor=#CCFFCC
|bgcolor=FFA07A|Defeat |6. |IV |Singles |3–6, 7–5, 4–6 |
| colspan=7|{{increase}}3–1; 15-16 September 2023; ILT Stadium, Invercargill, New Zealand; World Group II (first round); Hard (i) surface |
| bgcolor=#FFCCFF
|bgcolor=98FB98|Victory |3. |II |Singles |{{flagicon|THA}} Thailand |6–1, 6–3 |
| colspan=7|{{decrease}}1–3; 2-3 February 2024; ASB Tennis Centre, Auckland, New Zealand; World Group I Play-offs, 1st round playoff; Hard surface |
| bgcolor=#CCFFCC
|bgcolor=FFA07A|Defeat |7. |II |Singles |Rowspan=2|{{flagicon|TUR}} Türkiye |7–6(7–5), 2–6, 4–6 |
| bgcolor=#CCFFCC
|bgcolor=FFA07A|Defeat |8. |IV |Singles |3–6, 2–6 |
External links
- {{ATP}}
- {{ITF}}
- {{Davis Cup player}}
{{Top male singles tennis players by country|NZL}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rai, Ajeet}}
Category:New Zealand male tennis players
Category:New Zealand sportspeople of Indian descent