Ajeet Shankar Rai (born 18 January 1999) is a New Zealand professional tennis player. Rai has a career-high singles ranking by the ATP of No. 417 achieved on 10 April 2023 and a best doubles ranking of world No. 163 achieved on 28 September 2026.
Tennis career 2018 Rai's first experience of professional tennis was being given a wildcard into qualifying for the Auckland Open, where he was beaten by Taro Daniel in the first round. He played his first senior ITF tournament in Kampala, Uganda, in May, qualifying for the main draw in singles, where he reached the second round. The following week, at the same venue, he was given a wildcard into both doubles and the main draw for singles, and reached the quarterfinals of both.
He reached his first doubles semifinal in China in July, but the highlight of his year to that date would come in September, when he made his Davis Cup debut for New Zealand, partnering Artem Sitak to win their doubles rubber against South Korea, giving Rai a perfect start to his senior international representative career. His first ITF doubles final came in Hua Hin, Thailand, in October, where he and Karunuday Singh lost in a match tie-break to the top seeds, Francis Casey Alcantara and Sonchat Ratiwatana. In singles at the same tournament, he progressed past the quarterfinals for the first time, going all the way to take the title over Manish Sureshkumar in three sets. His season finished with a couple of quarterfinal losses in Futures events in Tây Ninh, Vietnam.
2019 Again given a wildcard into qualifying in Auckland, Rai was a game away from defeating Roberto Marcora in the first round before eventually losing in three sets. He and New Zealand junior champion George Stoupe were given a wild card into the doubles, where they lost in the first round to Artem Sitak and Austin Krajicek.
In Uganda on the anniversary of his ITF debut, Rai injured his back severely enough in his second event to need three months' rehabilitation before he returned to the tour in South-East Asia. Well-beaten in his first match, he steadily improved through a series of tournaments to reach another doubles final in Hua Hin in August. By the worst possible luck, his partner, former dual Australian Open junior doubles winner Bradley Mousley, injured his knee in his singles semifinal earlier in the day and had to retire from that match. He played the doubles final, but with very restricted movement the pair were easily beaten by the top-seeded Ratiwatana twins from the host country.
Rai reached two more ITF doubles finals before the end of the year, in Hua Hin two weeks later and in Cancún, Mexico, in late November, finishing runner-up on each occasion.
2020 With the ITF Circuit returning to New Zealand for the first time in several years, Rai's first event for 2020 was at the new tournament in Te Anau, where he lost in the quarter-finals of both singles and doubles. At the ASB Classic in Auckland, Rai received a wildcard into both the singles qualifying rounds and the doubles, losing his first match in both. The doubles defeat, however, came at the hands of the eventual champions, Luke Bambridge and Ben McLachlan, and Rai and partner Mackenzie McDonald played extremely well.
Rai's next stop after Auckland was Cancún, where he played three tournaments in as many weeks. The second was the most productive, reaching the quarterfinals in singles and finally securing a doubles title, in his fifth final. Rai then returned home for New Zealand's Davis Cup tie against Venezuela in Auckland, where he lost in singles to Luis David Martínez in three sets. He didn't play again before the international tour was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and his only subsequent events were domestic tournaments such as the New Zealand Premier League, Wellington Open/New Zealand Championships (where he finished runner-up) and the Te Anau Invitational.
2021 Rai resumed his international career in June, playing a series of ITF tournaments in Monastir over the next couple of months. He reached several doubles finals but, frustratingly, it took five attempts before he was able to win another title. Apart from a brief trip to Spain to renew his visa, he stayed in Monastir until November, eventually winning six doubles titles from 11 finals before returning to New Zealand.
2022 Rai made three more ITF singles finals, winning the last of them. He also took the doubles title at Nonthaburi in his first ATP Challenger event.
ATP Challenger and ITF Circuit finals Singles: 8 (4 titles, 4 runner-ups) LegendATP ChallengerITF 25,000 (1–2)ITF 15,000 (3–2)Finals by surfaceHard (4–4)Clay (0–0) ResultNo.DateLevelTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin1.13 October 201815kHua Hin, ThailandHard Manish Sureshkumar6–3, 4–6, 6–4Loss1.28 August 2022M15Changwon, Korea Rep.Hard Lee Jea-moon4–6, 4–6Loss2.9 October 2022M25Tây Ninh, VietnamHard Lý Hoàng Nam4–6, 4–6Win2.18 December 2022M15Wellington, New ZealandHard (i) [Note 1] James Watt6–2, 6–4Win3.8 October 2023M25Cairns, AustraliaHard Jeremy Beale3–2, ret.Loss3.16 June 2024M15Hong Kong, China SARHard Evgenii Tiurnev4–6, 2–6Loss4.24 November 2024M25Caloundra, Australia Hard Christian Langmo6–7(4–7), 6–1, 4–6Win4.15 December 2024M15Wellington, New Zealand Hard Tai Sach6–4, 6–2
Note 1: this was an outdoor tournament, but several matches, including the final, were played indoors due to bad weather.
Doubles: 43 (23 titles, 20 runner-ups) LegendATP Challenger (2–3)ITF $25,000 (12–6)ITF $15,000 (9–11)Finals by surfaceHard (19–18)Clay (2–1)Grass (2–1) ResultNo.DateLevelTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss1.12 October 201815,000Hua Hin, ThailandHard Karunuday Singh Francis Casey Alcantara Sonchat Ratiwatana1–6, 6–1, [6–10]Loss2.24 August 2019M15Hua Hin, ThailandHard Bradley Mousley Sanchai Ratiwatana Sonchat Ratiwatana2–6, 0–6Loss3.7 September 2019M15Hua Hin, ThailandHard George Loffhagen Ray Ho Kelsey Stevenson6–7(4–7), 2–6Loss4.23 November 2019M15Cancún, MexicoHard Cameron Green Skyler Butts Nicholas Bybel5–7, 5–7Win1.1 February 2020M15Cancún, MexicoHard Simon Carr Gabriel Petit Brandon Walkin6–4, 6–2Loss5.29 May 2021M15Monastir, TunisiaHard Siddhant Banthia Jeremy Beale Thomas Fancutt4–6, 4–6Loss6.12 June 2021M15Monastir, TunisiaHard Jeremy Beale Siddhant Banthia Park Ui-sungw/oLoss7.26 June 2021M15Monastir, TunisiaHard Benjamin Winter Lopez Julian Cash Mark Whitehouse6–7(1–7), 3–6Loss8.17 July 2021M15Monastir, TunisiaHard Jeremy Beale Arthur Bouquier Santiago Rodríguez Taverna7–5, 4–6, [7–10] Win2.7 August 2021M15Monastir, TunisiaHard Blake Ellis Taisei Ichikawa Seita Watanabe6–2, 6–3Win3.11 September 2021M15Monastir, TunisiaHard Mattia Bellucci Gabriel Décamps Robert Strombachs7–6(7–1), 6–7(5–7), [10–4]Win4.18 September 2021M15Monastir, TunisiaHard Li Tu Martin Breysach Lilian Marmousez6–0, 6–4Loss9.25 September 2021M15Monastir, TunisiaHard Giorgio Ricca Guy Orly Iradukunda Marat Sharipov3–6, 6–4, [6–10]Win5.16 October 2021M15Monastir, TunisiaHard Mateo Nicolás Martínez Anis Ghorbel Mirko Martinez6–7(1–7), 6–4, [11–9]Win6.30 October 2021M15Monastir, TunisiaHard Mirko Martinez Théo Arribagé Axel Garcian6–4, 1–6, [10–8]Win7.6 November 2021M15Monastir, TunisiaHard Mirko Martinez Pierre-Yves Bailly Martin Katz3–6, 7–6(7–5), [10–8]Win8.27 August 2022M15Changwon, Korea Rep.Hard Thomas Fancutt Jeong Yeong-seok Lee Jea-moon5–7, 6–4, [10–8]Win9.10 September 2022ChallengerNonthaburi, ThailandHard Chung Yun-seong Francis Casey Alcantara Christopher Rungkat6–1, 7–6(8–6)Loss10.5 November 2022ChallengerSydney, AustraliaHard Yuta Shimizu Blake Ellis Tristan Schoolkate6–4, 5–7, [9–11]Win10.23 September 2023M25Darwin, AustraliaHard Thomas Fancutt Blake Bayldon Brandon Walkin6–1, 6–4Win11.25 November 2023M25Brisbane, AustraliaHard Thomas Fancutt Joshua Charlton Emile Hudd6–4, 6–4Win12.3 December 2023M25Carrara, AustraliaHard Thomas Fancutt Blake Bayldon Kody Pearson7–1, 7–6(12–10)Loss11.27 January 2024ChallengerIndian Wells, USAHard Thomas Fancutt Ryan Seggerman Patrik Trhac4–6, 6–3, [3–10]Loss12.2 March 2024M25Traralgon, AustraliaHard Jesse Delaney Joshua Charlton Blake Ellis1–6, 3–6Win1323 March 2024M25Swan Hill, AustraliaGrass Hayden Jones Jesse Delaney Luke Saville6–4, 6–4Win1418 May 2024M25Luan, ChinaHard Sun Fajing Cui Jie Lee Duck-hee6–2, 6–2Loss13.15 June 2024M15Hong Kong, ChinaHard Rishi Reddy Tomohiro Masabayashi Thantub Suksumrarn3–6, 5–7Win1517 August 2024M25Yinchuan, ChinaHard Wang Aoran Philip Henning Kris van Wyk6–4, 6–4Win16.15 December 2024M15Wellington, New Zealand Hard Isaac Becroft Tai Sach Anton Shepp6–1, 6–3Loss1416 March 2025M25Mildura, AustraliaGrass Joshua Charlton Matt Hulme James Watt7–6(9–7), 6–7(1–7), [11–13]Win1723 March 2025M25Swan Hill, AustraliaGrass Joshua Charlton Jake Delaney Jesse Delaney6–4, 6–4Loss1517 May 2025M25Tbilisi, GeorgiaHard Kaichi Uchida Aleksandre Bakshi Lukáš Pokorný2–6, 4–6Loss1629 June 2025M25Monastir, TunisiaHard Charles Barry Sergey Betov Daniil Ostapenkov5–7, 4–6Loss1717 August 2025M25Bali, IndonesiaHard Alexander Klintcharov Kokoro Isomura Shunsuke Nakagawa2–6, 2–6Win1812 October 2025M25Perth, AustraliaHard Finn Bass Masamichi Imamura Naoki Tajima6–1, 7–6(7–3)Loss18.21 December 2025M15Tauranga, New ZealandHard Anton Shepp Jesse Delaney Emile Hudd2–6, 2–6Win19.26 April 2026M25 Sharm El Sheikh, EgyptHard Thomas Fancutt Lukáš Pokorný Niklas Schell7–6(7–3), 6–1Win20.3 May 2026M25 Quinta do Lago, PortugalHard Thomas Fancutt John Echeverría Tiago Torres6–3, 7–6(7–2) Loss19.10 May 2026M25 Loulé, PortugalHard Thomas Fancutt Justin Boulais Tiago Pereira6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–3), [4–10] Win21.24 May 2026M25 Bol, CroatiaClay Thomas Fancutt Admir Kalender Matej Sabanov7–6(7–3), 6–3 Win227 June 2026M25Caltanissetta, ItalyClay Thomas Fancutt Alessandro Coccioli Lorenzo Lorusso 7–6(7–4), 6–1 Loss20.28 June 2026 ChallengerPlovdiv, BulgariaClay Thomas Fancutt Jarno Jans Niels Visker4–6, 5–7Win23.22 August 2026 ChallengerQuebec City, CanadaHard Alexander Donski Justin Boulais Duncan Chan6–3, 4–6, [10–3]
Davis Cup (11) Group membership World Group (0) Group I (1–8) Group II (2–0) Group III (0) Group IV (0)
indicates the outcome of the Davis Cup match followed by the score, date, place of event, the zonal classification and its phase, and the court surface.
Rubber outcomeNo.RubberMatch type (partner if any)Opponent nationOpponent player(s)Score2–3; 14-15 September 2018; Gimcheon Sports Town Tennis Courts, Gimcheon, South Korea; Asia/Oceania Group I Relegation playoff, 2nd round playoff; Hard (i) surfaceVictory1.IIIDoubles (with Artem Sitak) South KoreaHong Seong-chan / Lee Jea-moon7–5, 6–33–1; 14-15 September 2019; Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex, Jakarta, Indonesia; Asia/Oceania Zone Group II playoffs (first round); Hard surfaceVictory2.ISingles IndonesiaMuhammad Rifqi Fitriadi7–6(9–7), 6–3Defeat1.IVSingles (dead rubber)Ari Fahresi3–6, 6–2, [7–10]3–1; 6-7 March 2020; ASB Tennis Centre, Auckland, New Zealand; World Group I Play-offs, 1st round playoff; Hard surfaceDefeat2.IISingles VenezuelaLuis David Martínez7–5, 4–6, 2–63–1; 4-5 March 2022; Darling Tennis Center, Las Vegas, United States; World Group I Play-offs, 1st round playoff; Hard surfaceDefeat3.IISingles UruguayPablo Cuevas4–6, 2–60–5; 16-17 September 2022; Espoo Metro Areena, Espoo, Finland; World Group I 1st round; Hard (i) surfaceDefeat4.IISingles FinlandOtto Virtanen4–6, 3–61–3; 4-5 February 2023; Wilding Park, Christchurch, New Zealand; World Group I Play-offs, 1st round playoff; Hard surfaceDefeat5.ISingles BulgariaAlexander Lazarov6–7(1–7), 2–6Defeat6.IVSinglesDimitar Kuzmanov3–6, 7–5, 4–63–1; 15-16 September 2023; ILT Stadium, Invercargill, New Zealand; World Group II (first round); Hard (i) surfaceVictory3.IISingles ThailandMaximus Jones6–1, 6–31–3; 2-3 February 2024; ASB Tennis Centre, Auckland, New Zealand; World Group I Play-offs, 1st round playoff; Hard surfaceDefeat7.IISingles TürkiyeYankı Erel7–6(7–5), 2–6, 4–6Defeat8.IVSinglesAltuğ Çelikbilek3–6, 2–6
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