Petr Nesterov (, born 7 March 2003) is a Bulgarian tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 298 achieved on 5 October 2026 and a doubles ranking of No. 260 achieved on 4 November 2024. He is currently the No. 2 Bulgarian player. Nesterov reached the final of the 2021 US Open Junior doubles with Ukrainian Viacheslav Bielinskyi.

Professional career 2019–2021: Early years, turning pro, Major Junior final 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 Tour.

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.

2022–2024: ATP doubles debut and first wins

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 again reached the quarterfinals defeating Spanish duo of defending champion David Vega Hernández and Íñigo Cervantes.

2025–2026: 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 Year2019202020212022202320242025Singles--1692819558439587Doubles151415842418550423310568

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)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreWin1–0M15 Al Zahra, KuwaitWorld Tennis TourHard Gonçalo Oliveira4–6, 6–4, 6–3Win2–0M15 Al Zahra, KuwaitWorld Tennis TourHard Tomáš Lánik6–4, 7–6(7–5)Loss2–1M15 Aktobe, KazakhstanWorld Tennis TourHard (i) Evgeny Karlovskiy7–6(7–1), 1–6, 2–6Win3–1M15 Bucharest, RomaniaWorld Tennis TourClay Niels Lootsma6–3, 4–6, 7–6(8–6)Win4–1M15 Bucharest, RomaniaWorld Tennis TourClay Elliot Benchetrit6–1, 6–2Loss4–2M25 Santa Margherita di Pula, ItalyWorld Tennis TourClay Pol Martín Tiffon2–6, 6–7(5–7)Loss4–3M15 Bistrița, RomaniaWorld Tennis TourClay Cezar Crețu3–6, 6–7(5–7)Win5–3M15 Bucharest, RomaniaWorld Tennis TourClay Gabi Adrian Boitan6–4, 6–4Win6–3M15 Monastir, TunisiaWorld Tennis TourHard Manas Dhamne6–1, 6–4Win7–3M15 Monastir, TunisiaWorld Tennis TourHard Tomasz Berkieta6–4, 6–4Win8–3M25 Santa Margherita di Pula, ItalyWorld Tennis TourClay Arthur Nagel 7–5, 6–0Win9–3M25 Gentofte, DenmarkWorld Tennis TourClay Carl Emil Overbeck3–6, 6–3, 6–1Loss9–4Plovdiv, BulgariaChallengerClay Gabriele Piraino1–6, 6–7(5–7)

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)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1M15 Burgas, BulgariaWorld Tennis TourClay Simeon Terziev Luca Gelhard Kai Wehnelt3–6, 3–6Loss0–2M15 Novi Sad, SerbiaWorld Tennis TourClay Simon Anthony Ivanov Viktor Jović Marat Sharipov3–6, 4–6Loss0–3M15 Sozopol, BulgariaWorld Tennis TourHard Yanaki Milev Maks Kaśnikowski Olaf Pieczkowski3–6, 5–7Win1–3M15 Sozopol, BulgariaWorld Tennis TourHard Yanaki Milev Adriano Dhzenev Anthony Genov6–3, 6–2Win2–3M15 Sharm El Sheikh, EgyptWorld Tennis TourHard Alec Beckley Alex Knaff Jakob Schnaitter3–6, 6–3, [10–8]Loss2–4M15 Constanța, RomaniaWorld Tennis TourClay Olaf Pieczkowski Ignacio Carou João Victor Couto Loureiro3–6, 6–7(5–7)Loss2–5M25 Skopje, North MacedoniaWorld Tennis TourClay Yanaki Milev Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg Antoine Hoang1–6, 2–6Loss2–6M15 Zahra, KuwaitWorld Tennis TourHard Aleksandre Bakshi Dax Donders Sidané Pontjodikromo6–3, 6–7(3–7), [8–10]Loss2–7M15 Antalya, TurkeyWorld Tennis TourClay Bogdan Bobrov Jay Clarke James MacKinlay1–6, 2–6Win3–7M15 Bucharest, RomaniaWorld Tennis TourClay Ilya Snițari Tomás Lipovšek Puches Juan Bautista Otegui6–7(5–7), 6–4, [10–7]Win4–7M15 Bucharest, RomaniaWorld Tennis TourClay Ilya Snițari Simone Agostini Matteo De Vincentis7–6(7–4), 6–2Win5–7M25 Satu Mare, RomaniaWorld Tennis TourClay Vladyslav Orlov Miloš Karol Michael Shaw6–4, 6–2Loss5–8Verona, ItalyChallengerClay Yanaki Milev Marcelo Demoliner Guillermo Durán7–6(8–6), 6–7(3–7), [13–15]Loss5–9M25 Satu Mare, RomaniaWorld Tennis TourClay Vladyslav Orlov Tim Rühl Louis Wessels6–7(6–8), 3–6Win6–9M25 Santa Margherita di Pula, ItalyWorld Tennis TourClay Yanaki Milev Alessandro Spadola Matteo Vavassori7–6(7–4), 6–3Win7–9M25 Santa Margherita di Pula, ItalyWorld Tennis TourClay Yanaki Milev Massimo Giunta Mariano Tammaro6–3, 6–3Loss7–10M15 Antalya, TurkeyWorld Tennis TourClay Yanaki Milev Tim Handel Stefan Popović3–6, 2–6Loss7–11M15 Doha, QatarWorld Tennis TourHard Yanaki Milev Gabi Adrian Boitan Bogdan Pavel1–6, 2–6Win8–11M25 Klosters, SwitzerlandWorld Tennis TourClay Timofey Stepanov Corentin Denolly Maximilian Neuchrist7–6(7–4), 6–4Loss8–12M25+H Kassel, GermanyWorld Tennis TourHard Oleksandr Ovcharenko Max Westphal Theodore Winegar6–7(2–7), 3–6Win9–11M15 Monastir, TunisiaWorld Tennis TourHard Adam Nagoudi Stefano Papagno Felipe Virgili Berini7–5, 6–7(4–7), [11–9]Loss9–12Hersonissos, GreeceChallengerHard Oleksandr Ovcharenko Michael Geerts Tiago Pereira6–3, 4–6, [5–10]

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.

Rubber resultNo.RubberMatch type (partner if any)Opponent nationOpponent player(s)Score3–1; 4–5 March 2022; Sport Hall Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria; World Group II Play-Off; Hard (i) surfaceDefeat1IVSingles ParaguayDaniel Vallejo6–7(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 surfaceDefeat2IIIDoubles (with Alexander Donski) New ZealandArtem Sitak / Michael Venus4–6, 6–3, 3–61–3; 3–4 February 2024; Tennis Center Avenue, Burgas, Bulgaria; World Group I Play-Off; Hard (i) surfaceVictory 3IVSingles Bosnia and HerzegovinaAndrej Nedić4–6, 6–2, [10–8]3–2; 14–16 September 2024; Tennis Club Lokomotiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria; World Group II; Clay surfaceDefeat4ISingles El SalvadorMarcelo Arévalo3–6, 3–6Defeat5IIIDoubles (with Alexander Donski)Marcelo Arévalo / César Cruz7–5, 6–7(4–7), 3–63–1; 31 January–1 February 2025; Polyvalent Hall, Craiova, Romania; World Group I Play-Off; Hard (i) surfaceDefeat6ISingles RomaniaCezar Crețu7–6(8–6), 3–6, 6–7(3–7)Victory7IIIDoubles (with Alexander Donski)Gabi Adrian Boitan / Victor Vlad Cornea6–3, 6–33–2; 13–14 September 2025; Tennis Club Lokomotiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria; World Group I; Clay surfaceVictory8IIIDoubles (with Alexander Donski) FinlandHarri Heliövaara / Otto Virtanen6–4, 1–6, 7–6(7–1)0–4; 7–8 February 2026; Kolodruma, Plovdiv, Bulgaria; Qualifiers first round; Clay (i) surfaceDefeat9IIIDoubles (with Alexander Donski) BelgiumSander Gillé / Joran Vliegen6–7(5–7), 6–7(3–7)

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]

References

External links