Alina Aleksandrovna Korneeva (russian: Алина Александровна Корнеева, born 23 June 2007) is a Russian

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player. In 2023, she won junior Grand Slam singles titles at the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

and the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

and reached No. 1 in the ITF junior world rankings.

Career

2021

Korneeva finished runner-up at the European Junior Championships under-14 girls singles to the Czech player

Tereza Valentová Tereza "Tery" Valentová (born 20 February 2007) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of No. 264 in singles and No. 241 in doubles. She has a career high ITF junior combined ranking of No. 4, achieved on 10 Ju ...

2022

On the ITF Junior Circuit, in 2022 Korneeva's tally of six singles titles saw her claim the most singles titles in girls’ tennis that year. Korneeva won her first $15k event in Casablanca in September, defeating

Laura Hietaranta Laura Hietaranta (born 2 February 2004) is a Finnish tennis player. On the junior tour, Hietaranta has a career high junior ranking of 32, achieved on 1 March 2021. Hietaranta has represented Finland at the Billie Jean King Cup, making her debu ...

in the final.

2023

Korneeva had success in her junior Grand Slam debut at the

, reaching the semifinals of the girls' doubles with partner

Mirra Andreeva Mirra Aleksandrovna Andreeva (russian: Мирра Александровна Андреева; born 29 April 2007) is a Russian professional tennis player. Andreeva has a career-high singles ranking by the WTA of No. 35, achieved on 29 January ...

, and defeating Andreeva in three sets in the final of the girls' singles. Before their final, Andreeva said, "She is a really good friend of mine, my best friend." After the match, Korneeva told her on court, "It's not our last battle. We will have a lot of good matches when you will win, when I will win...it was a hard battle." In the quarterfinals of the girls singles, Korneeva defeated second seed

, who 18 months prior, had defeated Korneeva in the under-14 girls singles final at the European Junior Championships. In March, Korneeva qualified for the main draw and won the $60k event in Pretoria, defeating Tímea Babos in the final, in straight sets. At age 15 years, eight months and 18 days, Korneeva became the fifth youngest player in history to win an ITF tournament at $60k level or above. On 1 May, Korneeva reached No. 1 in the ITF junior world rankings. In June, she won her second junior Grand Slam title, defeating Lucciana Pérez Alarcón in the final of the French Open girls' singles in straight sets, becoming the first player since

Magdalena Maleeva Magdalena Georgieva Maleeva ( bg, Магдалена Георгиева Малеева, ; born 1 April 1975) is a Bulgarian former professional tennis player. She played on the WTA Tour competing in singles and doubles, from April 1989 to Octo ...

in 1990 to win the first two Grand Slam events in girls' singles in the same year. Together with

Sara Saito is a Japanese tennis player. Saito has a career-high singles ranking by the WTA of 166, achieved on 17 June 2024. She also has a career-high WTA doubles ranking of 484, reached on 18 March 2024. Junior career She has a career-high ITF junior ...

, Korneeva also reached the final of the girls' doubles. In July, Korneeva qualified for the main draw and won the $100k event in

Figueira da Foz Figueira da Foz (), also known as Figueira for short, is a city and a municipality in the Coimbra District, in Portugal. Practically at the midpoint of the Iberian Peninsula's Atlantic coast, it is located at the mouth of the Mondego River, west ...

, defeating French player

Carole Monnet Carole Monnet (born 1 December 2001) is a Ukrainian-born French tennis player. Monnet has career-high WTA rankings of 188 in singles, achieved on 27 February 2023, and 353 in doubles, reached on 18 April 2022. Career She made her WTA Tour main- ...

6–0, 6–0, and becoming the youngest player to win a W100 title. Together with Anastasia Tikhonova, she also reached the final of the same event in doubles. In October, she qualified for the

2023 Hong Kong Tennis Open The 2023 Hong Kong Tennis Open (also known as the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open for sponsorship reasons) was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the tenth edition of the tournament, and part of the WTA 250 t ...

making her WTA debut and defeated compatriot Valeria Savinykh for her first WTA win. On 22 October, Korneeva won the 2023 ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals, defeating Sara Saito 6–0, 6–3 in the final.

Personal life

Born in Moscow, Korneeva has been nicknamed the "mini Sharapova" in some quarters. Her father

Aleksandr Korneev Aleksandr Vladimirovich Korneev (russian: Александр Владимирович Корнеев, born 11 September 1980) is a retired volleyball player from Russia. He was born in Moscow. His daughter Alina is a professional tennis player a ...

is a former volleyball player who won a bronze medal at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. Korneeva currently trains in Moscow.

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

Doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Junior Grand Slam tournament finals

Singles (2 titles)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Korneeva, Alina 2007 births Living people Russian female tennis players 21st-century Russian women Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' singles Australian Open (tennis) junior champions