Petr Nesterov

Petr Nesterov (, born 7 March 2003) is a Bulgarian tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 300 achieved on 24 August 2026 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.

2026: First ATP Challenger final, top 300 Nesterov reached his first ATP Challenger final at the 2026 Plovdiv Challenger II at home in Bulgaria, but lost in straight sets 6–1, 7–6(7–5) in the final to Gabriele Piraino. As a result, he reached the top 300 in the ATP singles rankings on 24 August 2026.

Year-end ATP ranking

ATP Challenger and ITF finals

Singles: 13 (9–4) Legend (singles)ATP Challenger Tour (0–1)ITF World Tennis Tour (9–3)Titles by surfaceHard (4–1)Clay (5–3)

Doubles: 22 (9–13) Legend (doubles)ATP Challenger Tour (0–2)ITF World Tennis Tour (9–11)Titles by surfaceHard (3–4)Clay (6–9)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)

National participation

Davis Cup (3 wins, 6 losses) Petr Nesterov debuted for the Bulgaria Davis Cup team in 2022. Since then he has 9 nominations with 7 ties played, his singles W/L record is 1–3 and doubles W/L record is 2–3 (3–6 overall).

Group membershipFinals (0–0)Qualifying round (0–1)Group I (3–2)Group II (0–3)Group III (0–0)Group IV (0–0)Matches by surfaceHard (2–3)Clay (1–3)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)Matches by typeSingles (1–3)Doubles (2–3) 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.

Junior Grand Slam finals Doubles: 1 (0–1) ResultYearTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentScoreRunner-Up 2021 US Open Hard Viacheslav Bielinskyi Max Westphal Coleman Wong 3–6, 7–5, [1–10]