Pavel Kotov was born on November 18, 1998, in Moscow, Russia. His father is an architect, while his mother is a doctor. Kotov’s tennis idols are Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. The Russian began competing on the ITF Futures Circuit as a teenager.
He won his first three Futures titles in 2017. Two of these were on home soil in Kazan, with the other two coming in Valasske Mezirici, Czech Republic. Kotov continued to play regularly on the Futures Circuit in 2018 and 2019. However, he was less successful during those years. Kotov made three more finals during those years in Shymkent, Segovia, and Antalya but was unable to win any of them.
After not reaching any more finals for over two years, Kotov then had some success on the ATP Challenger Tour, which is the next level above the Futures Circuit. He claimed his first Challenger title in December 2021 by beating Andrea Arnaboldi in Forli, Italy.
Just a month later, Kotov won a second Challenger title in the same location by overcoming Quentin Halys in the final. His third triumph came in September 2022 in San Marino, with a straight-sets final triumph against Matteo Arnaldi.
The Russian faced Gael Monfils in the final. Kotov took the opening set 6-4 and was in control of the match. Unfortunately for him, he lost a very close tie-break in the second set and went on to lose 6-4, 6-7(6). 3-6 to the veteran Frenchman.
Kotov claimed his first wins at Grand Slam main draw level in 2024. He did this by reaching the second round of the Australian Open before having a run to the third round of the French Open.
