# Ilia Kushev

Ilia Kushev (sometimes also transliterated as Iliya Kushev) (Bulgarian: Илия Кушев, born 13 December 1980) is a former professional tennis player from Bulgaria. He has frequently played for Bulgaria at the Davis Cup. On 16 August 2004, he reached his highest ATP singles ranking of 285 whilst his best doubles ranking was 234 on 16 August 2004.
In 2006, Kushev married Vesela Tomova, a tennis coach.

## Year-end rankings

| Year | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
| Singles | - | 706 | 696 | 392 | 401 | 451 | 520 | 710 | - |
| Doubles | 1009 | 697 | 610 | 365 | 391 | 454 | 728 | 923 | 1351 |

## Challenger and Futures Finals
### Singles: 9 (1–8)

* Legend (singles)
* ATP Challenger Tour (0–0)
* ITF Futures (1–8)
* Titles by surface
* Hard (0–1)
* Clay (1–7)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Jun 2001 | Macedonia F1, Skopje | Futures | Clay | Artemon Apostu-Efremov | 6–3, 7–6$^{(9–7)}$ |
| Loss | 1–1 | Oct 2003 | Greece F4, Thessaloniki | Futures | Clay | Konstantinos Economidis | 6–2, 4–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 1–2 | Jun 2004 | Serbia and Montenegro F3, Belgrade | Futures | Clay | František Polyak | 4–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 1–3 | Dec 2004 | Qatar F3, Doha | Futures | Hard | Zbynek Mlynarik | 6–4, 1–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 1–4 | Jun 2005 | Serbia and Montenegro F1, Belgrade | Futures | Clay | Ilija Bozoljac | 4–6, 6–4, 0–6 |
| Loss | 1–5 | Jun 2006 | Macedonia F2, Skopje | Futures | Clay | Ivaylo Traykov | 6–7$^{(4–7)}$, 7–6$^{(7–3)}$, 5–7 |
| Loss | 1–6 | Jul 2006 | Serbia and Montenegro F2, Belgrade | Futures | Clay | Predrag Rusevski | 4–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 1–7 | Aug 2006 | Serbia and Montenegro F4, Novi Sad | Futures | Clay | Dejan Katić | 0–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 1–8 | May 2007 | Bulgaria F1, Sofia | Futures | Clay | Maxime Authom | 4–6, 5–7 |

### Doubles: 13 (5–8)

* Legend (doubles)
* ATP Challenger Tour (1–2)
* ITF Futures (4–6)
* Titles by surface
* Hard (0–2)
* Clay (5–5)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–1)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Sep 2002 | Sofia, Bulgaria | Challenger | Clay | Luben Pampoulov | Christopher Kas Oliver Marach | 6–7$^{(4–7)}$, 7–6$^{(9–7)}$, 2–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Sep 2003 | Sofia, Bulgaria | Challenger | Clay | Luben Pampoulov | Todor Enev Dimo Tolev | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Loss | 1–2 | Oct 2003 | Cyprus F1, Nicosia | Futures | Clay | Yordan Kanev | Elefterios Alexiou Alexandros Jakupovic | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 2–2 | Jun 2004 | Serbia and Montenegro F3, Belgrade | Futures | Clay | Yordan Kanev | Nikola Ćirić Goran Tošić | 6–7$^{(8–10)}$, 7–6$^{(7–4)}$, 6–0 |
| Loss | 2–3 | Dec 2004 | Qatar F4, Doha | Futures | Hard | Yordan Kanev | Artem Sitak Dmitri Sitak | 6–7$^{(5–7)}$, 0–6 |
| Loss | 2–4 | Dec 2004 | Qatar F5, Doha | Futures | Hard | Yordan Kanev | Artem Sitak Dmitri Sitak | w/o |
| Loss | 2–5 | Aug 2005 | Timișoara, Romania | Challenger | Clay | Radoslav Lukaev | Ionuț Moldovan Gabriel Moraru | 2–6, 0–6 |
| Loss | 2–6 | Jan 2006 | Austria F2, Bergheim | Futures | Carpet (i) | Todor Enev | Werner Eschauer Florin Mergea | 2–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 3–6 | Aug 2006 | Bulgaria F1, Plovdiv | Futures | Clay | Yordan Kanev | Robert Gustafsson Jim May | 7–6$^{(7–3)}$, 7–6$^{(7–3)}$ |
| Win | 4–6 | Sep 2006 | Bulgaria F3, Sofia | Futures | Clay | Yordan Kanev | Todor Enev Tihomir Grozdanov | 7–6$^{(7–4)}$, 6–4 |
| Loss | 4–7 | Jun 2007 | Bulgaria F4, Sofia | Futures | Clay | Vasko Mladenov | David Savić Miljan Zekić | 4–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 5–7 | Jun 2007 | Macedonia F1, Skopje | Futures | Clay | Yordan Kanev | Daniel Danilović Lazar Magdinčev | 1–6, 7–6$^{(8–6)}$, 6–4 |
| Loss | 5–8 | Jun 2008 | Bulgaria F4, Sofia | Futures | Clay | Todor Enev | Tihomir Grozdanov Simeon Ivanov | 3–6, 6–4, [4–10] |

## Davis Cup

Ilia Kushev debuted for the Bulgaria Davis Cup team in 2003. Since then he has 13 nominations with 11 ties played, his singles W/L record is 3–5 and doubles W/L record is 4–4 (7–9 overall).

### Singles (3–5)

| Edition | Round | Date | Surface | Opponent | W/L | Result |
| 2003 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | QF | 11 July 2003 | Clay | Janko Tipsarević | L | 3–6, 6–1, 2–6, 3–6 |
| 2004 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | R1 | 11 April 2004 | Carpet (I) | Amr Ghoneim | W | 6–2, 6–2 |
| 2004 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | QF | 18 July 2004 | Clay | Filippo Volandri | L | 2–6, 0–6 |
| 2005 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | QF | 17 July 2005 | Clay | Jarkko Nieminen | L | 3–6, 5–7, 2–6 |
| 2006 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | R1 | 7 April 2006 | Clay | Photos Kallias | W | 6–3, 6–2, 7–5 |
| 2006 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | R1 | 9 April 2006 | Clay | Marcos Baghdatis | L | 3–6, 2–6, 2–6 |
| 2006 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | QF | 21 July 2006 | Clay | Kornél Bardóczky | L | 5–7, 3–6, 0–6 |
| 2006 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | QF | 23 July 2006 | Clay | Sebő Kiss | W | 7–5, 1–6, 6–2 |

### Doubles (4–4)

| Edition | Round | Date | Partner | Surface | Opponents | W/L | Result |
| 2004 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | QF | 17 July 2004 | Yordan Kanev | Clay | Massimo Bertolini Andreas Seppi | L | 4–6, 0–6, 1–6 |
| 2005 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | R1 | 5 March 2005 | Yordan Kanev | Carpet (I) | Lado Chikhladze Irakli Ushangishvili | W | 6–4, 3–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
| 2005 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | QF | 16 July 2005 | Radoslav Lukaev | Clay | Jarkko Nieminen Lauri Kiiski | W | 7–5, 6–3, 6–7$^{(5–7)}$, 6–3 |
| 2005 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | SF | 24 September 2005 | Radoslav Lukaev | Hard | Mikhail Filima Orest Tereshchuk | L | 4–6, 2–6, 6–7$^{(3–7)}$ |
| 2006 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | R1 | 8 April 2006 | Ivaylo Traykov | Clay | Marcos Baghdatis Photos Kallias | W | 4–6, 6–3, 2–6, 7–6$^{(7–1)}$, 6–0 |
| 2007 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | R1 | 7 April 2007 | Ivaylo Traykov | Carpet (I) | Ernests Gulbis Deniss Pavlovs | L | 5–7, 4–6, 2–6 |
| 2007 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | RPO | 21 July 2007 | Todor Enev | Clay | Marcos Baghdatis Photos Kallias | L | 2–6, 3–6, 3–6 |
| 2015 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | R1 | 7 March 2015 | Tihomir Grozdanov | Hard (I) | Mārtiņš Podžus Jānis Podžus | W | 3–6, 2–6, 6–4, 7–5, 6–1 |
* RPO = Relegation Play–off

## Honours

Best Bulgarian tennis player – 2005