Pugaev appeared twice at the Wimbledon Championships, the first time in 1973, when he lost in the first round to Ernie Ewert in four sets and competed with Greg Perkins in the doubles.

[2] In 1980 he made the semi-finals of a Grand Prix tournament in Sofia, with wins over Hans Simonsson, Helmar Stiegler and Tenny Svensson.

They lost the match in five sets to Anders Järryd and Hans Simonsson, which gave Sweden an unassailable lead in the tie, meaning the Soviets would have to play a relegation play-off.

[6] The two sides met in Donetsk and Pugaev won both of his matches, singles wins over Sashi Menon and Vijay Amritraj, to help the Soviet's secure the tie 4–1.

[9] The Soviet Union lost in the opening round of the World Group again in 1985, to Czechoslovakia in Tbilisi, with Pugaev again getting a win in a dead rubber, over Libor Pimek.