# Alexandar Lazarov

Alexandar Lazarov (Bulgarian: Александър Лазаров, born 6 November 1997) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 272 achieved on 14 November 2022 and his best doubles ranking is No. 359 achieved on 3 February 2020.

## Professional career
### 2016: Professional debut, first ITF title

In 2016 Lazarov made his debut at ATP level at the ATP Sofia Open. He received a wild card for the qualification of the event in his homeland, losing in two sets to the world No. 214 Marius Copil. A month later Alexandar made his debut for the Bulgaria Davis Cup team against Turkey, losing the first match to Marsel İlhan, but claiming his maiden win over Altuğ Çelikbilek in the second. In September he won his first ITF singles title at the Serbia F8 event in Sokobanja, defeating Filip Veger in the final.

### 2017–2020: Maiden ATP main draw appearance & ATP Cup match win

Lazarov lost in the first qualifying round at the ATP Sofia Open in 2017 and 2018, but at the 2019 event the Bulgarian defeated Lukáš Lacko and Luca Vanni to guarantee himself a spot in the main draw for the first time. In his ATP tour main draw debut Alexandar faced former world No. 7 Fernando Verdasco, but failed to score another upset, losing to the Spaniard 2–6 1–6. After the tournament Lazarov made his Top 500 debut in the ATP rankings.
Alexandar won his second ITF singles title in 2018 at the Georgia F3 event in Telavi and a year later he added another trophy to his collection, defeating Jordan Correia in the final of the M15 event in Casablanca.
In January 2020, Lazarov participated in the Bulgarian team in the inaugural 2020 ATP Cup where the top 24 countries qualified based on the singles ATP ranking of their No. 1 country player. The Bulgarian team was No. 19 based on Dimitrov's ranking and part of Group C. Lazarov and Grigor Dimitrov pulled a victory in doubles where as the underdogs they stunned the top British experienced pair of Jamie Murray/Joe Salisbury in a close three sets match.

### 2021: ATP Challenger debut

At the beginning of the 2021 season Lazarov made the qualifying draw at the Antalya Open, but lost in three sets to Lucas Miedler. In July Alexander played his first ATP Challenger main draw match at the Iași Open after two wins in the qualification draw, but his run was stopped by Marius Copil. The Bulgarian's good form continued in the following week at the M25 event in Telavi, where he didn't lose a set on his way to his fourth ITF singles title.
In September, he received a wildcard for the main draw at the ATP Sofia Open, but could not score his maiden ATP win, losing 0–6 3–6 to Filip Krajinović. Lazarov finished his season with two consecutive ATP Challenger quarterfinals in Manama and in Antalya where he lost to the eventual champion Evgenii Tiurnev and reached a new career-high ranking of No. 405 on 13 December 2021.

### 2022: First ATP Challenger semifinal, Maiden ATP singles win, Top 300

In May Lazarov reached the quarterfinals of the Shymkent Challenger in Kazakhstan as a qualifier and as a result, he made his top 400 debut on 16 May 2022. Aleksandar continued his rise in the rankings during the summer after he won his fifth ITF title on home soil in Sofia as well as a final showing at the M25 event in Tbilisi the following week.
His best result to date came at the Rafa Nadal Open, where he made his way into the main draw and after five consecutive wins he reached his first semifinal on the ATP Challenger Tour as a qualifier. During his run in Manacor, Lazarov scored upset wins over world No. 132 Aleksandar Vukic and former No. 39 Mikhail Kukushkin before his run was stopped by the eventual champion Luca Nardi in three sets.
Ranked No. 334 at the 2022 Sofia Open, his home tournament, he won his first ATP tour level match and first against a top-100 player, overcoming world No. 74 Jiří Lehečka in straight sets. In the second round Lazarov player another spectacular match against World No. 30 Lorenzo Musetti and was just two points away from clinching his first ATP quarterfinal, but couldn't complete the upset, losing in three sets 7–6(5), 6–7(8), 2–6 to the Italian. At the same tournament in the doubles competition, he scored another ATP main draw win with Alexander Donski before losing in the quarterfinals to top seeds Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli. After the success at his home ATP tournament, Lazarov went on to win back to back M15 events in Sozopol, where he defeated Vladyslav Orlov and Maks Kaśnikowski to claim his sixth and seventh ITF title respectfully and securing his debut in the Top 300.
On 23 November 2022, he was confirmed as a participant at the 2023 United Cup as part of the Bulgarian team.

### 2023: Historic Davis Cup qualification, ATP 500 debut, injury

Lazarov opened his 2023 season with a debut appearance at the United Cup, where he won his mixed doubles match partnering Isabella Shinikova against former doubles No. 1 Elise Mertens and David Goffin, sealing Bulgaria's first win in the tournament with 3–2 over Belgium.
Alexander was also part of the Bulgaria Davis Cup team in their World Group I Play-offs tie against New Zealand, where he won his singles match against Ajeet Rai, helping his home country on their way to a 3–1 win that saw them qualify for the World Group I for the first time in history.
In February, Lazarov received a wildcard for the qualifying draw at the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships, making his maiden appearance at the ATP 500 level. The Bulgarian grabbed this opportunity and made his way into the main draw after scoring his second Top 100 win against World No. 92 Zhang Zhizhen in the first round in straight sets and then overcoming World No. 108 Francesco Passaro also in straight sets for a spot in the main draw. As a result, he moved more than 25 positions back into the top 275 in the rankings.
In May, at the 2023 Upper Austria Open Lazarov tore the Achilles tendon in his left leg during his first round match against Sandro Kopp. The Bulgarian went through surgery on the next day.
He received a wildcard for the main draw at the 2023 Sofia Open in singles and doubles. He lost to eventual semifinalist Pavel Kotov.

## Challenger and Futures/World Tennis Tour finals
### Singles: 9 (7–2)

* Legend (singles)
* ATP Challenger Tour (0–0)
* ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour (7–2)
* Titles by surface
* Hard (2–1)
* Clay (5–1)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Sep 2016 | Serbia F8, Sokobanja | Futures | Clay | Filip Veger | 6–7$^{(2–7)}$, 7–6$^{(7–4)}$, 3–0 ret. |
| Win | 2–0 | Jul 2018 | Georgia F3, Telavi | Futures | Clay | Maksim Tikhomirov | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Win | 3–0 | Jul 2019 | M15 Casablanca, Morocco | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Jordan Correia | 6–4, 7–5 |
| Loss | 3–1 | Jun 2021 | M15 Skopje, North Macedonia | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Miljan Zekić | 4–6, 6–7$^{(5–7)}$ |
| Win | 4–1 | Aug 2021 | M25 Telavi, Georgia | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Aleksandre Metreveli | 6–1, 1–0 ret. |
| Win | 5–1 | Jul 2022 | M15 Sofia, Bulgaria | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Vlad Andrei Dancu | 6–1, 6–2 |
| Loss | 5–2 | Jul 2022 | M25 Tbilisi, Georgia | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Savva Polukhin | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 6–2 | Oct 2022 | M15 Sozopol, Bulgaria | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Vladyslav Orlov | 6–1, 6–1 |
| Win | 7–2 | Oct 2022 | M15 Sozopol, Bulgaria | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Maks Kaśnikowski | 6–2, 6–4 |

### Doubles: 6 (2–4)

* Legend (doubles)
* ATP Challenger Tour (0–0)
* ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour (2–4)
* Titles by surface
* Hard (0–1)
* Clay (2–3)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | May 2017 | Czech Republic F1, Prague | Futures | Clay | Dominik Kellovský | Daniel Paty Jan Valenta | 6–1, 6–3 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Jul 2018 | Tunisia F25, Hammamet | Futures | Clay | Manuel Peña López | Juan Ignacio Galarza Diego Hidalgo | 5–7, 4–6 |
| Loss | 1–2 | May 2019 | M15 Sozopol, Bulgaria | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Alexander Donski | Alec Adamson Vasil Kirkov | 6–4, 2–6, [6–10] |
| Loss | 1–3 | Jun 2019 | M15 Kamen, Germany | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Alexander Mannapov | Shalva Dzhanashiya Yan Sabanin | 4–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 2–3 | Aug 2019 | M15 Curtea de Argeș, Romania | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Călin Manda | Petru-Alexandru Luncanu Ștefan Paloși | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 2–4 | Mar 2022 | M25 Rovinj, Croatia | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Giovanni Fonio | David Pichler Dalibor Svrčina | 6–4, 2–6, [7–10] |

## National participation
### Davis Cup (11 wins, 8 losses)

Alexandar Lazarov debuted for the Bulgaria Davis Cup team in 2016. Since then he has 11 nominations with 12 ties played, his singles W/L record is 6–3 and doubles W/L record is 5–5 (11–8 overall).
* Group membership
* World Group (0–0)
* WG Play-off (0–0)
* Group I (2–1)
* Group II (7–7)
* Group III (2–0)
* Group IV (0–0)
* Matches by surface
* Hard (8–8)
* Clay (3–0)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
* Matches by type
* Singles (6–3)
* Doubles (5–5)
* indicates the result of the Davis Cup match followed by the score, date, place of event, the zonal classification and its phase, and the court surface.
| Rubber result | No. | Rubber | Match type (partner if any) | Opponent nation | Opponent player(s) | Score |
| 2–3; 4–6 March 2016; Ankara Tenis Kulübü, Ankara, Turkey; Group II Europe/Africa First Round; Hard (i) surface |||||||
| Defeat | 1 | II | Singles | Turkey | Marsel İlhan | 4–6, 2–6, 3–6 |
| Victory | 2 | V | Singles | Turkey | Altuğ Çelikbilek | 4–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
| 2–3; 15–17 July 2016; Tennis Courts of Cité Nationale Sportive, Tunis, Tunisia; Group II Europe/Africa Relegation Play-Off; Hard surface |||||||
| Defeat | 3 | II | Singles | Tunisia | Malek Jaziri | 4–6, 4–6, 1–6 |
| Defeat | 4 | III | Doubles (with Vasko Mladenov) | Tunisia | Malek Jaziri / Skander Mansouri | 4–6, 4–6, 3–6 |
| Victory | 5 | V | Singles | Tunisia | Aziz Dougaz | 4–6, 6–4, 7–6$^{(7–1)}$ |
| 3–0; 6 April 2017; Holiday Village Santa Marina, Sozopol, Bulgaria; Group III Europe Round Robin; Hard surface |||||||
| Victory | 6 | III | Doubles (with Tihomir Grozdanov) | Armenia | Mikayel Khachatryan / Sedrak Khachatryan | 6–2, 6–1 |
| 3–0; 7 April 2017; Holiday Village Santa Marina, Sozopol, Bulgaria; Group III Europe Round Robin; Hard surface |||||||
| Victory | 7 | III | Doubles (with Tihomir Grozdanov) | Greece | Petros Tsitsipas / Stamatios Kapiris | 6–0, 6–4 |
| 1–4; 13–14 September 2019; Kelvin Grove Club, Cape Town, South Africa; Group II Europe/Africa First Round; Hard surface |||||||
| Defeat | 8 | I | Singles | South Africa | Lloyd Harris | 4–6, 7–6$^{(7–3)}$, 3–6 |
| Defeat | 9 | III | Doubles (with Alexander Donski) | South Africa | Raven Klaasen / Ruan Roelofse | 3–6, 2–6 |
| 4–1; 6–7 March 2020; Costa Rica Country Club, San José, Costa Rica; World Group II Play-Off; Hard surface |||||||
| Victory | 10 | II | Singles | Costa Rica | Jesse Flores | 7–5, 4–6, 6–3 |
| Defeat | 11 | III | Doubles (with Adrian Andreev) | Costa Rica | Jesse Flores / Pablo Núñez | 6–7$^{(9–11)}$, 6–4, 6–7$^{(10–12)}$ |
| 1–3; 5–6 March 2021; Sport Hall Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria; World Group II; Hard (i)surface |||||||
| Defeat | 12 | III | Doubles (with Gabriel Donev) | Mexico | Hans Hach Verdugo / Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela | 4–6, 4–6 |
| 3–1; 4–5 March 2022; Sport Hall Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria; World Group II Play-Off; Hard (i) surface |||||||
| Victory | 13 | II | Singles | Paraguay | Daniel Vallejo | 6–4, 6–1 |
| Victory | 14 | III | Doubles (with Alexander Donski) | Paraguay | Juan Borba / Hernando José Escurra Isnardi | 6–3, 7–5 |
| 3–0; 16–18 September 2022; Bulgarian National Tennis Center, Sofia, Bulgaria; World Group II; Clay surface |||||||
| Victory | 15 | II | Singles | South Africa | Philip Henning | 6–0, 6–1 |
| Victory | 16 | III | Doubles (with Alexander Donski) | South Africa | Lleyton Cronje / Raven Klaasen | 6–3, 7–6$^{(8–6)}$ |
| 3–1; 4–5 February 2023; Wilding Park, Christchurch, New Zealand; World Group I Play-Off; Hard surface |||||||
| Victory | 17 | I | Singles | New Zealand | Ajeet Rai | 7–6$^{(7–1)}$, 6–2 |
| 1–3; 16–17 September 2023; Bulgarian National Tennis Center, Sofia, Bulgaria; World Group I; Clay surface |||||||
| Victory | 18 | III | Doubles (with Alexander Donski) | Kazakhstan | Alexander Bublik / Aleksandr Nedovyesov | 6–3, 6–3 |
| 1–3; 3–4 February 2024; Tennis Center Avenue, Burgas, Bulgaria; World Group I Play-Off; Hard (i) surface |||||||
| Defeat | 19 | III | Doubles (with Alexander Donski) | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Mirza Bašić / Damir Džumhur | 6–7$^{(10–12)}$, 3–6 |

### ATP Cup (1 win, 2 losses)

* Matches by type
* Singles (0–0)
* Doubles (1–2)
| Result | No. | Rubber | Match type (partner if any) | Opponent nation | Opponent player(s) | Score |
| 2–1; 3 January 2020; Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney, Australia; Group stage; Hard surface |||||||
| Victory | 1 | III | Doubles (with Grigor Dimitrov) | Great Britain | Jamie Murray / Joe Salisbury | 7–6$^{(7–5)}$, 6–7$^{(2–7)}$, [11–9] |
| 2–1; 5 January 2020; Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney, Australia; Group stage; Hard surface |||||||
| Defeat | 2 | III | Doubles (with Grigor Dimitrov) | Moldova | Radu Albot / Alexander Cozbinov | 4–6, 6–7$^{(4–7)}$ |
| 1–2; 7 January 2020; Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney, Australia; Group stage; Hard surface |||||||
| Defeat | 3 | III | Doubles (with Grigor Dimitrov) | Belgium | Sander Gillé / Joran Vliegen | 6–3, 4–6, [7–10] |

### United Cup (1 win, 0 losses)

* Matches by type
* Singles (0–0)
* Doubles (1–0)
| Result | No. | Rubber | Match type (partner if any) | Opponent nation | Opponent player(s) | Score |
| 3–2; 31 December 2022 – 1 January 2023; Perth Arena, Perth, Australia; Group stage; Hard surface |||||||
| Victory | 1 | V | Doubles (with Isabella Shinikova) | Belgium | David Goffin / Elise Mertens | 1–6, 7–6$^{(7–5)}$, [10–6] |

## Personal life

Lazarov is the son of former Bulgarian tennis player Krasimir Lazarov. He has a younger brother, George Lazarov, who is the youngest ATP ranked player up to date.