# Mark Lajal

Mark Lajal (born 12 May 2003) is an Estonian tennis player. He has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 191, achieved on 20 November 2023. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of No. 710, achieved on 9 September 2024. He is currently the No. 1 Estonian player.
He has won three ITF singles titles and a Challenger title.
On the junior tour, he had a career high ITF combined ranking of No. 13, achieved on 30 August 2021.
Lajal represents Estonia at the Davis Cup, where he has a W/L record of 1–2.

## Career
### 2023: Maiden Challenger title, ATP debut and first win, top 200

He won his first Challenger title in Little Rock, Arkansas. He became the first Estonian to win a Challenger title before his 21st birthday and Estonia’s second ever Challenger champion.
Ranked No. 229 on his ATP debut, he received a wildcard for the main draw of the 2023 European Open and defeated Jaume Munar for his first ATP win. He then lost to 4th seed and eventual finalist Arthur Fils in the second round.
As a lucky loser at the Bergamo Challenger, Lajal beat Jelle Sels, Ugo Blanchet and the opponent he lost to in qualifying, Pierre-Hugues Herbert to reach the semifinals, where he lost to David Goffin in 3 sets. As a result, he made his debut in the top 200.

### 2024: Grand Slam debut

In July, ranked No. 262, Lajal made his Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon after a successful qualifying campaign in which he ousted 25th qualifying seed Francesco Passaro, Henrique Rocha and fourth seed James Duckworth. He became the first Estonian man to reach a Grand Slam main draw since Jürgen Zopp at the 2018 Roland Garros. He lost in straight sets to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz on his debut.
In August, Lajal reached his second career Challenger final in Zhangjiagang, losing to Yasutaka Uchiyama in the final.

## Performance timeline
### Singles

Current through the 2023 Rolex Paris Masters.
| Tournament | 2023 | 2024 | SR | W–L | Win% |
| Grand Slam tournaments ||||||
| Australian Open | A | Q1 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| French Open | A | Q1 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | 0% |
| Wimbledon | A | 1R | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| US Open | Q1 | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | 50% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| ATP Masters 1000 ||||||
| Indian Wells Masters | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Miami Open | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Monte-Carlo Masters | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Madrid Open | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Italian Open | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Canadian Open | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Cincinnati Masters | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Shanghai Masters | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Paris Masters | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Career statistics ||||||
| | 2023 | 2024 | Career | Career | Career |
| Tournaments | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Titles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Finals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Overall win–loss | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 2–3 |
| Year-end ranking | 206 | | 40% | 40% | 40% |

## ATP Challenger Tour finals
### Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

* Legend
* ATP Challenger Tour (1–1)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Jun 2023 | Little Rock, USA | Challenger | Hard | Beibit Zhukayev | 6–4, 7–5 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Aug 2024 | Zhangjiagang, China | Challenger | Hard | Yasutaka Uchiyama | 7–6$^{(7–4)}$, 2–6, 2–6 |

## ITF World Tennis Tour finals
### Singles: 5 (3 titles, 2 runner-ups)

* Legend
* ITF WTT (3–2)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | May 2022 | M15 Heraklion, Greece | WTT | Hard | Dominik Palan | 6–4, 6–3 |
| Win | 2–0 | Aug 2022 | M15 Monastir, Tunisia | WTT | Hard | Constantin Bittoun Kouzmine | 6–2, 3–6, 6–3 |
| Loss | 2–1 | Aug 2022 | M15 Monastir, Tunisia | WTT | Hard | Te Rigele | 3–6, 6–3, 5–7 |
| Loss | 2–2 | Sep 2022 | M25 Bagnères-de-Bigorre, France | WTT | Hard | Joris De Loore | 3–6, 0–6 |
| Win | 3–2 | Dec 2022 | M25 Monastir, Tunisia | WTT | Hard | Bu Yunchaokete | 6–4, 6–1 |