From junior promise to senior success: Maaya Rajeshwaran finds breakthrough with title in Portugal

Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi, 17, took down World No. 587 Celia Cervino Ruiz of Spain 6-4, 6-2 on Sunday, clinching her maiden senior pro title at a USD 30,000 ITF event.

Updated : Oct 11, 2026 23:22 IST , Chennai - 4 MINS READ

File photo: The ITF singles title came after Maaya Rajeshwaran had already won the doubles with Yelyzaveta Kotliar of Ukraine earlier in the day. | Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi is in that phase of her career where the complete transition from the junior to the senior circuit is imminent.

At this stage, a deep run at the Junior Grand Slams can be quite encouraging, but doing well at a senior professional tournament is a serious shot in the arm.

The 17-year-old Coimbatore girl, who is Junior World No. 16, achieved the latter in Lagos, Portugal, on Sunday as she took down World No. 587 Celia Cervino Ruiz of Spain 6-4, 6-2 to clinch her maiden senior pro title at a USD 30,000 ITF event.

Ranked outside the WTA Top 1000, the Indian teenager had to begin from the qualifying rounds and was the underdog in the tournament. But she went on to register six straight-sets wins during which she faced a tiebreak only once.

Reflecting on her performance, Maaya said, “The first one (title) is always special, and I have lots of sweet memories from this week. For me, it just felt like another tournament because I’ve been competing for a while now. As a qualifier, I just tried to do as much as I could, and it went my way.”

The singles title came after Maaya had already won the doubles with Yelyzaveta Kotliar of Ukraine earlier in the day.

Big change post US Open

After her second-round exit at last month’s Junior US Open, Maaya and her team took a major decision. She left the Rafa Nadal Academy, run by the 22-time Major champion in Mallorca, and shifted base to Elite Tennis Centre in Cannes, France, where she trains under head coach Jean-René Lisnard.

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“In my best interest, this is what we had to do, and this was the right decision that we thought was going to work. And we didn’t think twice. We just did what we felt was going to be good for me,” said Maaya about leaving the Nadal Academy, a place she had joined earlier last year.

Overcoming a hurdle

In Portugal, Maaya was drawn to face Lithuanian World No. 246 and top seed Justina Mikulskyte. The Indian was down 0-5 in the opener. But then, something changed her mindset, and from there, she did not look back in the entire tournament.

“I didn’t start very well (against Mikulskyte), and she’s definitely a really good player. A lot of things were going on. And at 0-5, during the changeover, I looked at the clock, and it was 25 minutes into the match. The first thing that came into my mind was, ‘I’m not losing a set in 25 minutes.’ I just tried to stay, play one point at a time and stay alive in the set as long as I could,” revealed Maaya.

It worked as she held on for a 7-6(1), 6-1 victory over the Lithuanian.

The scoreline of the final may make it look like the Indian was dominating Ruiz, but it wasn’t as straightforward.

“The first set was definitely good, but it was a little tight as well, but in the second set, I felt like I was taking a lot of pressure. So, I was quiet and zoned out. I started singing something in my head just to be light and to let go. That really helped, and by the match point, I didn’t really think of it as a match point. It was just another point for me,” said the 17-year-old.

The contests taught her a valuable lesson. “I really have to trust myself to be more confident because you’re never there. There’s always something to work on. But when you deliver a certain level and when you step on the court next time, you just want to feel like you can do better and actually be there. That confidence has developed this week, which wasn’t there before,” she said.

But at the same time, the teenager doesn’t want to get too ahead of herself. For her, this title is just a start.