Renata Zarazúa

Renata Zarazúa Ruckstuhl (born 30 September 1997), known as Renata Zarazúa (), is a Mexican professional tennis player. She reached a best singles ranking of world No. 51 on 25 November 2024, and peaked at No. 88 in the doubles rankings on 27 January 2025.

She has won two singles and one doubles titles on the WTA Challenger Tour.
On the ITF Circuit, she has won four titles in singles and 17 in doubles.

In 2020, she qualified for the main draw of the French Open, becoming the first Mexican female tennis player to compete in the main draw of a major in 20 years. On the WTA Tour, her biggest result to date was reaching the semifinals of the 2020 Mexican Open.

Playing for Mexico, Zarazúa has a win–loss record of 17–13 in BJK Cup competition (as of January 2025).

Early life and background

Zarazúa was born on 30 September 1997 to Jose Luis and Alejandra in Mexico City. She also has an older brother named Patricio, who is a former college tennis player for Palm Beach Atlantic University. Her great-uncle Vicente Zarazúa, a Mexican pro tennis player, participated in 16 Davis Cup ties for Mexico and claimed gold medals in exhibition doubles at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. During an interview at the 2020 French Open, Zarazúa stated that Simona Halep is the player she admires the most.

Career

2016-2019: WTA Tour debut

Zarazúa made her WTA Tour singles debut at the 2016 Brasil Cup, after she reached the main draw through qualifying, but to lost in the first round Catalina Pella in three sets.

Having been given a wildcard entry at the 2018 Mexican Open, she defeated Kristýna Plíšková to reach the round of 16, where she lost to third seed Daria Gavrilova.

2020: First WTA Tour semifinal, major debut

In February, Zarazúa received a wildcard to play at the Mexican Open in Acapulco, where she reached her first WTA Tour singles semifinal with wins over top seed Sloane Stephens, Katie Volynets and Tamara Zidanšek, before losing to Leylah Fernandez. Her run at the tournament saw her become the first Mexican woman to play a WTA Tour semifinal since 1993.

In September, she qualified for the main draw at the delayed French Open, making her first appearance at a Grand Slam tournament and becoming the first Mexican woman in a major main draw in 20 years. She defeated wildcard Elsa Jacquemot recording her first Grand Slam win, and becoming the first Mexican woman to do so since Angélica Gavaldón reached the second round of the 2000 Australian Open. Zarazúa lost in the second round to third seed Elina Svitolina in three sets under the newly-installed roof on Court Philippe Chatrier.

2021-2023: Olympics debut, WTA 125 title

In 2021, Zarazúa qualified for the delayed Tokyo Olympics in singles and in doubles, partnering Giuliana Olmos both making their Olympics debut.

She reached her maiden WTA 125 final at the 2021 Concord Open, losing to Magdalena Fręch.

Zarazúa won her first WTA 125 title at the 2023 Montevideo Open defeating the top seed, Diane Parry, in the final, becoming the first Mexican woman to win a WTA Challenger Tour level singles tournament.

2024: Top 100 debut, second WTA 125 title

Zarazúa reached the top 100 on 8 January, and became the second Mexican player after Angélica Gavaldón in 1996, to reach the milestone. The following week, she qualified for the Australian Open making her debut and becoming the second Mexican woman to reach the main draw at the tournament in the Open Era, and the first since two-time quarterfinalist Angelica Gavaldon's final appearance in 2000. Zarazúa lost in the first round to Martina Trevisan in three sets.
In February, playing with Iryna Shymanovich, she won her first WTA 125 doubles title on home soil at the Puerto Vallarta Open, defeating Angelica Moratelli and Camilla Rosatello in the final.

She qualified for the Italian Open, making her debut at a clay WTA 1000 event, but lost to Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the first round.
Wins over seventh seed Viktorija Golubic, wildcard entrant Ajla Tomljanović and Peyton Stearns saw Zarazúa reach the semifinals at the WTA 125 Parma Open in May, where she went out to eighth seed Mayar Sherif. She could not continue her good form into that month's French Open, losing in the first round to 14th seed Madison Keys in straight sets.
Partnering Angelica Moratelli, she was runner-up in the doubles at the WTA 125 Bari Open, losing in the final to top seeds Anna Danilina and Irina Khromacheva. The following week, Zarazúa and Moratelli reached the final at the WTA 125 Valencia Open, but again suffered defeat, this time to second seeds Katarzyna Piter and Fanny Stollár in a match which went to a deciding champions tiebreak.

At Wimbledon, she was eliminated in the final qualifying round but made the main draw for the first time in her career at this major as a lucky loser. She was defeated by Emma Raducanu in straight sets in a first round match.

Zarazúa also made her debut at the US Open as a direct entry benefitting from the withdrawal of Sorana Cîrstea, and recorded her first win at this Grand Slam tournament with an upset over 28th seed Caroline Garcia, before losing her next match to Caroline Wozniacki

At the WTA 500 Guadalajara Open, she defeated Anhelina Kalinina to reach the second round, where she lost to Martina Trevisan. Zarazúa moved to a new career-high of world No. 78 in the singles rankings on 16 September 2024.
She won the ITF Central Coast Pro Tennis Open, defeating Usue Maitane Arconada in the final in straight sets. Zarazúa then won the ITF Tyler Pro Challenge with a win over Iva Jovic in the final.
As the top seed at her home tournament, the Mérida Open, she made the quarterfinals defeating wildcard Akasha Urhobo and qualifier Maja Chwalińska, before losing to eventual champion Zeynep Sönmez. As a result she reached a new career-high in the top 60 in the singles rankings.

As the top seed at the Fifth Third Charleston in November, Zarazúa won her second WTA 125 singles title, defeating Alina Charaeva, Irene Burillo Escorihuela, Louisa Chirico and Lauren Davis to reach the final, where she overcame Hanna Chang in straight sets. As a result, she reached a new career-high of world No. 51 in the singles rankings on 25 November 2024.

2025: First Australian Open win

Zarazúa became the first Mexican player to win a match at the Australian Open in 25 years when she defeated Taylor Townsend. She lost to fourth seed Jasmine Paolini in the second round.

Performance timelines

''Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.''

Singles

''Current through the 2024 Copa Colsanitas.''

WTA Challenger finals

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

Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 17 (6 titles, 11 runner-ups)

Doubles: 27 (17 titles, 10 runner-ups)

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zarazua, Renata
1997 births
Living people
Mexican female tennis players
Olympic tennis players for Mexico
Tennis players at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics
Tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Mexico
Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in tennis
Competitors at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games
Pan American Games competitors for Mexico
Tennis players at the 2019 Pan American Games
Tennis players from Mexico City
21st-century Mexican sportswomen