Destanee Gabriella Aiava (born 10 May 2000) is an Australian professional
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.
She has career-high
WTA rankings
The WTA rankings are the ratings defined by the Women's Tennis Association, introduced in November 1975.
Iga Świątek is the current world No. 1.
Ranking method
The WTA rankings are based on a rolling 52-week, cumulative system. A pla ...
of 147 in singles, achieved on 11 September 2017, and of 192 in doubles, achieved October 2019. Aiava has won five singles and five doubles titles on the
ITF Women's Circuit
The ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, previously known as the ITF Women's Circuit, is a series of professional tennis tournaments run by the International Tennis Federation for female professional tennis players.
History
It serves as a developmental ...
.
She made her Grand Slam main-draw debut after winning the
2016 U18 Australian Championships, granting her a wildcard into the
2017 Australian Open. She thus became the first player, male or female, born in 2000 or later to participate in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament.
Early life
Aiava is Samoan descent; her father, Mark, was born in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
to Samoan parents, and her mother, Rosie, was born in
American Samoa
American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internationa ...
.
Junior career
2012–2016
In 2012, at the age of 12, Aiava represented Australia at Roland Garros in the Longines Future Tennis Aces Tournament. Competing against fifteen of the top under-13 female tennis players, Aiava won the tournament and won the right to play alongside
Steffi Graf in an exhibition match.
The years following, Aiava mainly played on the junior circuit. In 2014, she won the Tecnifibre Tennis Central Championships and NZ ITF Summer Championships in New Zealand as well as Australian International's in
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
and
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
. At the age of 14, she won the U18 Canadian world ranking event in
Montreal, Quebec
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...
.
Professional career
2015–2016
In early 2015, Aiava made her professional debut at the
Burnie International after receiving
wildcards in the singles and doubles, where she lost early in both. At the
Launceston Tennis International
The Launceston Tennis International is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts. It is part of the ITF Women's Circuit and has been held in Launceston, Australia, since 2012. In 2014, it was upgraded to a $50k event. In 2018, ...
, Aiava won her first professional main-draw match against
Lu Jiajing
Lu Jiajing (; ; born 18 November 1989) is a Chinese tennis player.
She has won 18 singles and 28 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 18 March 2019, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 162. On 29 June 2015, she peaked at ...
. She also made the quarterfinals of a 15K tournament in Melbourne in April 2015. In March 2016, Aiava made her first career final at a $25k tournament in Canberra. In December 2016, she won the
U18 Girls' Australian Championships and earned a wildcard into the
2017 Australian Open. She thus became the first player born in the 21st century to play at a Grand Slam championship.
2017: First ITF titles and Grand Slam debut
Aiava commenced the year by qualifying for the
Brisbane International
The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA Premier tournament of the WTA Tour and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 seri ...
to make her maiden WTA main-draw appearance. Aiava defeated
Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Bethanie Mattek-Sands ( Bethanie Lynn Mattek; born March 23, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. She has won nine Grand Slam titles (five in women's doubles and four in mixed doubles), and an Olympic gold medal, and is a former w ...
in the first round, before losing to two-time Grand Slam champion and world No. 9,
Svetlana Kuznetsova. Aiava made her
Grand Slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
debut at the
Australian Open as a wildcard, losing in
round one to
Mona Barthel
Mona Barthel (born 11 July 1990) is a German tennis player.
Barthel has won four singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, one doubles title on the WTA Challenger Tour as well as five singles titles and one doubles title on the ITF Ci ...
.
In February, Aiava won the first ITF title of her career, winning the $25k event in Perth by defeating
Viktória Kužmová
Viktória Kužmová (; born 11 May 1998) is a Slovak professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as No. 43 in singles and No. 27 in doubles in the world by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Kužmová has won three WTA doubles ti ...
in the final. The following month, she won another $25k title, this time in
Mornington, beating
Barbora Krejčíková
Barbora Krejčíková (; born 18 December 1995) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2, achieved on 28 February 2022, and on 22 October 2018, she became world No. 1 in doubles.
Krejčíková ...
in the final. In April, Aiava was named in the
Australia Fed Cup team
The Australia Billie Jean King Cup team represents Australia in international women's tennis and is directed by Tennis Australia. The team played in the first ever tournament in 1963, and is one of four teams that has taken part in every sin ...
for the first time. In May, she reached the semifinals of the
Open Saint-Gaudens, before losing the first round of
qualifying at the
French Open. In June, Aiava lost in the final round of
Wimbledon qualifying. In September, she reached the second round of
qualifying for the US Open before granting a wildcard into
Tournoi de Québec
The Tournoi de Québec (sponsored as Coupe Banque Nationale or known as National Bank Cup in English-language media) was a WTA Tour International level tennis tournament held in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Held from 1993 to 2018, the tournament w ...
, where she lost in the first round. In October, Aiava reached the final of the
Canberra International.
In December, she was unable to defend her
girls' title, losing to
Jaimee Fourlis
Jaimee Fourlis (born 17 September 1999) is a professional Australian tennis player of Greek descent. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 147, achieved on 18 July 2022, and a highest doubles ranking of world No. 138, reached on 2 ...
in a reversal of the result from 2016. The following week, Aiava won the Australian Open Wildcard Playoff.
2018: Third ITF title
Aiava was awarded a wildcard to
Brisbane International
The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA Premier tournament of the WTA Tour and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 seri ...
where she lost in the first round to another wildcard entry,
Ajla Tomljanović
Ajla Tomljanović ( ; ; born 7 May 1993) is an Australian professional tennis player. She has won four singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 31 October 2022, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33. On 5 Janu ...
.
Aiava received another wildcard for the
Australian Open, where she was defeated in the first round by
world No. 1 and top seed,
Simona Halep
Simona Halep (; born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles twice between 2017 and 2019, for a total of 64 weeks, which ranks eleventh in the history of the Women's Tennis Assoc ...
. Aiava had two set points in the first set before going off-court to receive a medical time out. She subsequently lost the match in straight sets. Aiava reached the quarterfinal of the
Burnie International and
Zhuhai Open, before reaching the final of the
Clay Court International. In April, Aiava won the title at the Osaka event; her third ITF and first title outside Australia.
In May, Aiava lost in the first round of
French Open qualifying.
2019
Aiava began season at the
Brisbane International
The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA Premier tournament of the WTA Tour and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 seri ...
. She qualified for the main draw with victories over
Vania King
Vania King (born February 3, 1989) is an American former tennis player. A former top-ten doubles player, King won both the Wimbledon and US Open women's doubles titles in 2010 with partner Yaroslava Shvedova, with whom she also reached the f ...
,
Mandy Minella
Mandy Minella (born 22 November 1985) is a former professional tennis player from Luxembourg. Having made her debut on the WTA Tour in 2001, she peaked at No. 66 in the WTA singles rankings in September 2012, and No. 47 in doubles in April 2013 ...
and
Christina McHale
Christina Marietta McHale (born May 11, 1992) is an American former professional tennis player. Her highest-ever WTA rankings were No. 24 in singles and No. 35 in doubles.
Known for an aggressive baseline game, McHale was recognized by ''The New ...
. She then defeated
Kristina Mladenovic
Kristina "Kiki" Mladenovic (; sr, Кристина "Кики" Младеновић, Kristina "Kiki" Mladenović, ; born 14 May 1993) is a French professional tennis player and a former world No. 1 in doubles.
She is a nine-time Grand Slam c ...
in the first round, before falling to second seed
Naomi Osaka
is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles. Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam singles champio ...
.
Aiava received her third
Australian Open wildcard entry, losing to 17th seed
Madison Keys
Madison Keys (born February 17, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 7 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), a ranking she first achieved in October 2016. Keys has played in one Grand Sla ...
.
She then won the Clay Court International title on March 24 by defeating world No. 289,
Risa Ozaki
is a former professional Japanese tennis player.
In her career, Ozaki won six singles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 24 April 2017, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 70. On 6 March 2017, she peaked at No. 246 in the WTA ...
.
2022
In January, Aiava lost in the first round of the
Australian Open qualifying.
Grand Slam performance timelines
Singles
Doubles
ITF Circuit finals
Singles: 15 (5 titles, 10 runner-ups)
Doubles: 10 (5 titles, 5 runner-ups)
Top 10 wins
References
Further reading
''Herald Sun''''Herald Sun''''Courier Mail'' UBI Tennis
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aiava, Destanee
2000 births
Living people
Australian female tennis players
Tennis players from Melbourne
Australian people of New Zealand descent
Australian people of Samoan descent
Australian people of American Samoan descent
21st-century Australian women
People from Narre Warren
Sportswomen from Victoria (Australia)