Mumbai: A stray tune she heard in the morning had been running in her mind for most of the day. It can be a needless distraction when you are playing in the final of a senior professional tennis tournament, but it served its purpose at the opportune moment for Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi.
She also paired with Ukraine’s Yelyzaveta Kotliar to win the doubles title. “I felt like I was taking a lot of pressure. “I think that really helped. And by the match point, I didn’t really think of it as match point. It was just another point for me.
On Sunday, the 17-year-old became the youngest Indian to win a women’s singles pro tournament, securing the final 6-4, 6-2 at the ITF W35 event against Spain’s Celia Cervino Ruiz in Lagos, Portugal. The world No.1038 started the tournament in the qualification round, but did not drop a set – even coming from 0-5 down in the first set to beat the top seed Justina Mikulskyte in the main draw first round. Because i’ve been competing for a while now, for me, it just felt like another tournament.
I just zoned out, and started singing something in my head just to be light and let go (of the stress),” she said. Maaya said: “The first one is always special and lots of sweet memories this week.
More so after she, as a 15-year-old, rose from the qualification round to reach the semi-final of the W125 Mumbai Open in 2025. That unexpected, but no less deserving run, earned her the first-ever WTA ranking points, and took her from being an unranked player to 642 in the world. Because it’s the first title and it’s a good sign, “This is just the start.
For a few years, Maaya has been expected to be the next big thing for women’s tennis in India.
But I don’t think this is going to make that big of a deal,” she said. “It’s given me the confidence that I can compete better, so I’ll take that into the next tournaments.”
