Mariam Bolkvadze ( ka, მარიამ ბოლქვაძე, tr, ; born 1 January 1998) is a

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 from Georgia. On 7 March 2022, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 151, and on 21 March 2022, she peaked at No. 204 in the WTA doubles rankings. Playing for

Georgia Fed Cup team The Georgia Billie Jean King Cup team represents Georgia in the Billie Jean King Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Georgian Tennis Federation. They competed in the Europe/Africa Zone of Group II in 2007, but were promoted to Group I ...

, Bolkvadze has a win–loss record of 7–11 in

Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...

competitions.

Personal life

Bolkvadze was born in

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of th ...

and at the age of 13 moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

to further her tennis development. She stayed initially with her godmother before finding a

host family Homestay (also home stay and home-stay) is a form of hospitality and lodging whereby visitors share a residence with a local of the area (host) to which they are traveling. The length of stay can vary from one night to over a year and can be p ...

two years later.

Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ( , ; rus, Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова, p=mɐˈrʲijə ʂɐˈrapəvə, a=Maria_sharapova.ogg; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 ...

was her favourite player growing up. She is fluent in Georgian, Russian, and English.

Junior career

Bolkvadze began playing tennis at the age of 9 and spent much of her teenage years training in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where she was coached by Otto Buchholdt. As a junior she played in very few ITF events, instead concentrating on domestic competitions organised by the LTA and continental tournaments run by

Tennis Europe Tennis Europe (formerly known as the European Tennis Association) was formed in Rome, Italy on 31 May 1975 by a group of 17 European national tennis federations as a regional governing body for the sport of tennis and under the auspices of the Int ...

. She won the 2013 Aegon Junior International in London, defeating

Jodie Burrage Jodie Anna Burrage (born 28 May 1999) is a British tennis player. She has a career-high WTA singles ranking of 136, achieved on 3 October 2022, and a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 329, set on 12 July 2021. She has won four singles an ...

in the final. At the European Junior Championships held in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

later that year she lost to Fanny Stollar in the round of 64. She reached her only final on the ITF Junior World Tour as a qualifier at the G4 Nottingham event in April 2013, where she was runner-up to Freya Christie. She was a finalist with American partner

Caty McNally Catherine "Caty" McNally (born November 20, 2001) is an American tennis player. She achieved her highest doubles ranking of world No. 11 on 4 April 2022. On 7 November 2022, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 94. She is best known ...

in the girls' doubles at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships, losing to

Usue Maitane Arconada Usue Maitane Arconada (born 28 October 1998) is an American tennis player born in Argentina. Arconada is the 2016 Wimbledon Championships girls' doubles champion, alongside Claire Liu Claire Liu (born May 25, 2000) is an American tennis pla ...

and

Claire Liu Claire Liu (born May 25, 2000) is an American tennis player. On 24th October 2022, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 60. In 2017, she was the world No. 1 in the junior rankings, after winning the Wimbledon girls' sing ...

in straight sets. She played her only junior grand slam draw in singles at the same tournament, coming through qualifying before being defeated by

Sofia Kenin Sofia Anna "Sonya" Kenin (born November 14, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) of No. 4 in the world, which she achieved on March 9, 2020. She was the 2020 WTA ...

in the third round.

Senior career

2019: Breakthrough at the US Open

Ranked 202 in the world, Bolkvadze entered US Open qualifying and was drawn against eighth seed

Heather Watson Heather Miriam Watson (born 19 May 1992) is a British professional tennis player. A former British No. 1, Watson has won nine titles over her career, including the mixed-doubles title at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships partnering Henri K ...

. After beating her in straight sets, she defeated in the second round

Han Na-lae Han Na-lae ( ko, 한나래; born 6 July 1992) is a South Korean tennis player. Han has a career-high singles ranking of 149, achieved June 2019. She reached the top 100 in doubles for the first time with a ranking of 96, on 31 October 2022. H ...

in three tight sets to set up a match against

Xu Shilin Xu Shilin (; ; born 10 January 1998) is a Chinese tennis player. Xu was born in Zhongshan, and has won five singles and six doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 6 May 2019, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 190. On 22 ...

. By another win she qualified for her first major main draw, and became the fourth Georgian to qualify for a Grand Slam tournament. In the first round, she defeated

Bernarda Pera Bernarda Pera ( ; ; born 3 December 1994) is a Croatian-born American tennis player. Pera has won two singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, along with nine singles and eight doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. She achieved career-h ...

in three sets, before losing to third seed

Karolína Plíšková Karolína Hrdličková ( née Plíšková; ; born 21 March 1992) is a Czech professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in singles, reaching the top of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings on 17 July 2017 and holding the pos ...

, 1–6, 4–6. With her wins, she reached a new career-high of 152 in the world.

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 14 (6 titles, 8 runner–ups)

Doubles: 19 (11 titles, 8 runner–ups)

Junior Grand Slam finals

Girls' doubles: 1 (title)

National representation

Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup

Bolkvadze made her

debut for

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in 2015, while the team was competing in the Europe/Africa Zone Group I, when she was 17 years and 37 days old.

Singles (4–5)

Doubles (2–0)

Notes

References

External links

* * * 1998 births Living people Female tennis players from Georgia (country) Georgian emigrants to England People from Batumi Tennis people from Greater London {{Georgia-tennis-bio-stub