# Petr Nesterov

Petr Nesterov (Bulgarian: Пьотр Нестеров, born 7 March 2003) is a Bulgarian tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 384 achieved on 28 October 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 260 achieved on 4 November 2024. Nesterov reached the final of the 2021 US Open Junior doubles with Ukrainian Viacheslav Bielinskyi.

## Junior career

As a junior, Nesterov won three singles and four doubles titles and achieved a career-high ranking of World No. 15. His biggest junior success came in 2021 at the US Open, where he reached the quarterfinals in singles and his first Grand Slam final in doubles with Viacheslav Bielinskyi, but lost 3–6, 7–5, [1–10] to Max Westphal and Coleman Wong in the championship match. Earlier in the year the Bulgarian-Ukrainian duo came close to another doubles final at the French Open, but lost out in the semifinals to eventual champions Arthur Fils and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

## Professional career
### 2019–2023: Early years, turning pro, ATP debut and first wins

Nesterov made his professional debut at the age of 16, when he received a wildcard for the ITF tournament in Burgas in 2019. Although he lost his first singles match, Petr reached his debut ITF final in doubles with compatriot Simeon Terziev, but the Bulgarian duo couldn't go all the way, losing 3–6, 3–6 to Luca Gelhard and Kai Wehnelt.
A year and a half later, after the end of his junior career, Nesterov started playing regularly on the ITF men's tour. In 2022 he made his debut for Bulgaria Davis Cup team in the World Group II Play-Off tie with Paraguay, but was forced to retire in the third set against Daniel Vallejo.
After reaching two semifinals as a qualifier at the M25 and M15 events in Pirot and Novi Sad, Nesterov made his debut in the top 1000 of the ATP rankings as well as reaching his second doubles final with Simon Anthony Ivanov at the tournament in Novi Sad.
In September, Nesterov made his ATP singles qualifying debut at the 2022 Sofia Open after receiving a wildcard for the qualifying draw of his home tournament. The Bulgarian did not waste this opportunity and scored his biggest win to date, overcoming World No. 270 Salvatore Caruso in straight sets 7–6(4), 6–4. Ultimately he could not seal his spot into the main draw after a loss to Dragoș Nicolae Mădăraș in the second round.
Nesterov made his main draw ATP doubles debut with Yanaki Milev at the 2022 Sofia Open, where they reached the quarterfinals defeating Jack Vance and Jamie Vance before losing to eventual champions Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernández.
He also received a wildcard for the 2023 Sofia Open with Yanaki Milev and also reached the quarterfinals defeating Spanish duo Íñigo Cervantes and defending champion David Vega Hernández.

## Year-end ATP ranking

| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Singles | - | - | 1692 | 819 | 558 | 440 |
| Doubles | 1514 | 1584 | 2418 | 550 | 423 | 310 |

## Challenger and ITF World Tennis Tour finals
### Singles: 6 (4–2)

* Legend (singles)
* ATP Challenger Tour (0-0)
* ITF World Tennis Tour (4–2)
* Titles by surface
* Hard (2–1)
* Clay (2–1)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Oct 2023 | M15 Al Zahra, Kuwait | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Gonçalo Oliveira | 4–6, 6–4, 6–3 |
| Win | 2–0 | Nov 2023 | M15 Al Zahra, Kuwait | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Tomáš Láník | 6–4, 7–6$^{(7–5)}$ |
| Loss | 2–1 | Mar 2024 | M15 Aktobe, Kazakhstan | World Tennis Tour | Hard (i) | Evgeny Karlovskiy | 7–6$^{(7–1)}$, 1–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 3–1 | May 2024 | M15 Bucharest, Romania | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Niels Lootsma | 6–3, 4–6, 7–6$^{(8–6)}$ |
| Win | 4–1 | May 2024 | M15 Bucharest, Romania | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Elliot Benchetrit | 6–1, 6–2 |
| Loss | 4–2 | Oct 2024 | M25 Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Pol Martín Tiffon | 2–6, 6–7$^{(5–7)}$ |

### Doubles: 18 (7–11)

* Legend (doubles)
* ATP Challenger Tour (0–1)
* ITF World Tennis Tour (7–10)
* Titles by surface
* Hard (2–3)
* Clay (5–8)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Oct 2019 | M15 Burgas, Bulgaria | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Simeon Terziev | Luca Gelhard Kai Wehnelt | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Jul 2022 | M15 Novi Sad, Serbia | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Simon Anthony Ivanov | Viktor Jović Marat Sharipov | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 0–3 | Oct 2022 | M15 Sozopol, Bulgaria | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Yanaki Milev | Maks Kaśnikowski Olaf Pieczkowski | 3–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 1–3 | Oct 2022 | M15 Sozopol, Bulgaria | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Yanaki Milev | Adriano Dhzenev Anthony Genov | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Win | 2–3 | Mar 2023 | M15 Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Alec Beckley | Alex Knaff Jakob Schnaitter | 3–6, 6–3, [10–8] |
| Loss | 2–4 | Jun 2023 | M15 Constanța, Romania | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Olaf Pieczkowski | Ignacio Carou João Victor Couto Loureiro | 3–6, 6–7$^{(5–7)}$ |
| Loss | 2–5 | Jun 2023 | M25 Skopje, North Macedonia | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Yanaki Milev | Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg Antoine Hoang | 1–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 2–6 | Dec 2023 | M15 Zahra, Kuwait | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Aleksandre Bakshi | Dax Donders Sidané Pontjodikromo | 6–3, 6–7$^{(3–7)}$, [8–10] |
| Loss | 2–7 | Dec 2023 | M15 Antalya, Turkey | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Bogdan Bobrov | Jay Clarke James MacKinlay | 1–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 3–7 | May 2024 | M15 Bucharest, Romania | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Ilya Snițari | Tomás Lipovšek Puches Juan Bautista Otegui | 6–7$^{(5–7)}$, 6–4, [10–7] |
| Win | 4–7 | May 2024 | M15 Bucharest, Romania | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Ilya Snițari | Simone Agostini Matteo De Vincentis | 7–6$^{(7–4)}$, 6–2 |
| Win | 5–7 | Jun 2024 | M25 Satu Mare, Romania | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Vladyslav Orlov | Miloš Karol Michael Shaw | 6–4, 6–2 |
| Loss | 5–8 | Jul 2024 | Verona, Italy | Challenger | Clay | Yanaki Milev | Marcelo Demoliner Guillermo Durán | 7–6$^{(8–6)}$, 6–7$^{(3–7)}$, [13–15] |
| Loss | 5–9 | Sep 2024 | M25 Satu Mare, Romania | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Vladyslav Orlov | Tim Ruehl Louis Wessels | 6–7$^{(6–8)}$, 3–6 |
| Win | 6–9 | Oct 2024 | M25 Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Yanaki Milev | Alessandro Spadola Matteo Vavassori | 7–6$^{(7–4)}$, 6–3 |
| Win | 7–9 | Oct 2024 | M25 Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Yanaki Milev | Massimo Giunta Mariano Tammaro | 6–3, 6–3 |
| Loss | 7–10 | Nov 2024 | M15 Antalya, Turkey | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Yanaki Milev | Tim Handel Stefan Popović | 3–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 7–11 | Jan 2025 | M15 Doha, Qatar | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Yanaki Milev | Gabi Adrian Boitan Bogdan Pavel | 1–6, 2–6 |

## National participation
### Davis Cup (2 wins, 5 losses)

Petr Nesterov debuted for the Bulgaria Davis Cup team in 2022. Since then he has 6 nominations with 4 ties played, his singles W/L record is 1–2 and doubles W/L record is 0–2 (1–4 overall).
* Group membership
* World Group (0–0)
* WG Play-off (0–0)
* Group I (2–2)
* Group II (0–3)
* Group III (0–0)
* Group IV (0–0)
* Matches by surface
* Hard (2–3)
* Clay (0–2)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
* Matches by type
* Singles (1–3)
* Doubles (1–2)
* 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 |
| 3–1; 4–5 March 2022; Sport Hall Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria; World Group II Play-Off; Hard (i) surface |||||||
| Defeat | 1 | IV | Singles | Paraguay | Daniel Vallejo | 6–7$^{(8–10)}$, 7–6$^{(7–2)}$, [5–10] |
| 3–1; 4–5 February 2023; Wilding Park, Christchurch, New Zealand; World Group I Play-Off; Hard surface |||||||
| Defeat | 2 | III | Doubles (with Alexander Donski) | New Zealand | Artem Sitak / Michael Venus | 4–6, 6–3, 3–6 |
| 1–3; 3–4 February 2024; Tennis Center Avenue, Burgas, Bulgaria; World Group I Play-Off; Hard (i) surface |||||||
| Victory | 3 | IV | Singles | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Andrej Nedić | 4–6, 6–2, [10–8] |
| 3–2; 14–16 September 2024; Tennis Club Lokomotiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria; World Group II; Clay surface |||||||
| Defeat | 4 | I | Singles | El Salvador | Marcelo Arévalo | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Defeat | 5 | III | Doubles (with Alexander Donski) | El Salvador | Marcelo Arévalo / César Cruz | 7–5, 6–7$^{(4–7)}$, 3–6 |
| 3–1; 31 January–1 February 2025; Polyvalent Hall, Craiova, Romania; World Group I Play-Off; Hard (i) surface |||||||
| Defeat | 6 | I | Singles | Romania | Cezar Crețu | 7–6$^{(8–6)}$, 3–6, 6–7$^{(3–7)}$ |
| Victory | 7 | III | Doubles (with Alexander Donski) | Romania | Gabi Adrian Boitan / Victor Vlad Cornea | 6–3, 6–3 |

## Junior Grand Slam finals
### Doubles: 1 (0–1)

| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponent | Score |
| Runner-Up | 2021 | US Open | Hard | Viacheslav Bielinskyi | Max Westphal Coleman Wong | 3–6, 7–5, [1–10] |