Country (sports) Australia Career titles 0 WTA, 1 ITF Nationality Australian Prize money 15,728 USD | Career record 28–19 Height 1.75 m Turned pro 2015 Parents Rosie Aiava, Mark Aiava | |
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Full name Destanee Gabriella Aiava Plays Right-handed (double handed backhand) Similar Bethanie Mattek‑Sands, Lizette Cabrera, Ashleigh Barty, Naiktha Bains, Asia Muhammad Profiles | ||
Destanee Gabriella Aiava (born 10 May 2000) is a professional Australian tennis player.
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Aiava has a career high WTA singles ranking of 270 achieved on 9 January 2017. She also has a career high WTA doubles ranking of 516 achieved on 7 November 2016. Aiava has reached two ITF singles finals.
Aiava will make her grand slam main draw debut after winning the 2016 18/u Australian Championships, granting her a wildcard into the 2017 Australian Open. She 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 the daughter of Samoan parents; her father, Mark, was born in New Zealand to Samoan parents, and her mother, Rosie, was born in American Samoa.
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 and Victoria. At the age of 14, she won the U18 Canadian World Ranking Event in Montreal, Canada.
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, Aiava won her first professional main draw match against Lu Jiajing. 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 ITF tournament in Canberra. In December 2016, Aiava won the 18/u girls' Australian Championships and earned a wild card into the 2017 Australian Open. She will become the first player born this century to play at a Grand Slam.
2017
Aiava commenced the year at the 2017 Brisbane International, where she qualified, including a straight set victory over the previous year's semi-finalist Samantha Crawford. This was Aiava's maiden WTA main draw appearance. Aiava defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the first round, in three sets, before losing to two-time Grand Slam champion and world number nine Svetlana Kuznetsova. At the 2017 Australian Open, Aiava lost in round 1 to Mona Barthel.
In February, Aiava won the first ITF women's title of her career, winning the $25,000 event in Perth by defeating Viktoria Kuzmova in the final, 6–1 6–1.