Sahaja Yamalapalli

Sahaja Yamalapalli
Full nameSahaja Yamalapalli
Country (sports) India
Born (2000-10-29) 29 October 2000 (age 24)[1]
Hyderabad, India
Turned pro2021
PlaysRight (two-handed backhand)
CollegeSam Houston State University
Coach
Prize money$64,974
Singles
Career record97–79
Career titles4 ITF
Highest ranking284 (21 October 2024)
Current ranking311 (16 December 2024)
Doubles
Career record29–63
Highest ranking408 (7 October 2024)
Current ranking471 (16 December 2024)
Medal record
Women's tennis
Representing  India
Last updated on: 16 December 2024.

Sahaja Yamalapalli (born 29 October 2000) is an Indian tennis player.[2] She is India's number one in women's tennis.[3]

Early life

Yamalapalli was born on 29 October 2000 in Hyderabad, India. Her mother is Supriya while her father Bhavaniprasad Yamalapalli works at an engineering college.[4]

She started playing tennis at the age of ten. Yamalapalli graduated from Sam Houston State University in 2017 where she majored in Food Science and Nutrition. She has won the Player of the Year Award for collegiate tennis.[5] She was the second tennis player in the university's history to be honored with the award, the first being Irina Sotnikova.

She was also the first women's tennis player who earned ITA national ranking 110 in the university's history while also becoming the first player to ever crack the ITA NCAA national ranking. Yamalapalli was Southland Conference women's tennis student-athlete of the year 2018, 2019 and 2021 for being top in studies and sports. [6]

Career

Yamalapalli made her debut on the ITF tour in 2021. She won the WTA Mumbai Open.[7] She won the SoCal Pro Series and became the third Indian women's tennis player to win an ITF pro title.[8] She also won the ECT ITF women’s singles title.[9] She mainly plays tournaments on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, where she has already won three titles in the singles.

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 5 (4 titles, 1 runner–up)

Legend
W25 tournaments
W15 tournaments
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Mar 2022 ITF Nagpur, India W15 Clay Germany Emily Seibold 6–5 ret.
Win 2–0 Jul 2022 ITF Gurugram, India W25 Hard Slovakia Viktória Morvayová 6–3, 7–6(5)
Loss 2–1 Jul 2023 ITF Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand W25 Hard Thailand Mananchaya Sawangkaew 4–6, 0–6
Win 3–1 Dec 2023 ITF Solapur, India W25 Hard Ekaterina Makarova 6–4, 6–3
Win 4–1 Jun 2024 ITF Los Angeles, USA W15 Hard United States Amy Zhu 6–4, 7–6(4)

References

  1. ^ "Sahaja Yamalapalli: Profile". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Focusing on mental side gave Sahaja her first top-200 scalp". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  3. ^ Subrahmanyam, V. V. (9 September 2024). "Following footsteps of Sania Mirza, Sahaja becomes No. 1 in women's tennis in India". sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  4. ^ "Daughter's coach by day, engg prof by evening". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Who is Sahaja Yamalapalli? Profile, style and scouting report of India's latest tennis sensation". Khel Now. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  6. ^ Today, Telangana (23 March 2024). "Telangana's tennis ace Sahaja looking for sponsors". Telangana Today. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  7. ^ "WTA Mumbai Open: Sahaja Yamalapalli's hard-won progress fills her with belief".
  8. ^ Subrahmanyam, V. V. (5 July 2024). "Sahaja Yamalapalli becomes third Indian women's tennis player to win an ITF pro title". sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  9. ^ Subrahmanyam, V. V. (7 July 2022). "Yamalapalli Sahaja: 'Glad to have won ITF title, didn't have any expectations'". Sportstar. Retrieved 14 September 2024.

See also