Tennis: Rai serves up biggest title of his career

Photo by NZ Sportswire 

Taranaki tennis player Ajeet Rai has claimed the biggest title of his career after winning an ATP Challenger doubles crown in Canada.

Rai and Bulgarian partner Alexandar Donski won the Quebec City Challenger 125 title, beating Canadian pair Duncan Chan and Justin Boulais 6-3, 4-6, 10-3 in the final.

The match lasted one hour and 22 minutes, with Rai and Donski dominating the deciding match tiebreak to seal the title.

The victory earned Rai 125 ATP doubles ranking points and is expected to lift the 27-year-old almost 50 places to a new career-high ranking of 177.

It was Rai's first title at ATP Challenger level and continued a strong fortnight for the New Plymouth-born New Zealand Davis Cup representative.

The previous week Rai teamed up with fellow New Zealander James Watt to reach the semifinals of the Brownsburg Challenger in the United States.

Rai and Donski had to come from behind in both of their opening matches in Quebec City, winning deciding match tiebreaks to reach the semifinals.

They then produced one of their best performances of the tournament to beat Jackson Withrow and Nathaniel Lammons in straight sets and book a place in the final.

The title is another milestone in Rai's doubles career, having previously reached a career-high ranking of 222 in June 2024.

His victory in Quebec City is his biggest professional title and will take him inside the world's top 200 in doubles for the first time.