This 16-year-old has QUALIFIED 🙌 #AusOpen girls' singles champion Alina Korneeva defeats Bondar 6-3 6-3. @wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis
Who is Alina Korneeva? 16-year old Australian Open girls' singles champion who defeated Mirra Andreeva in 2023 final set for Grand Slam debut
WTAFriday, 12 January 2024 at 18:30
An intriguing name to win through Australian Open women's singles draw qualifying was 16-year-old Alina Korneeva with the rise of the Russian coming full circle after winning the girls' title back in 2023. But who is this rising star who many believe could be the next breakout star alongside her compatriot Mirra Andreeva?
Korneeva who was born on 23 June 2007 in Moscow, Russia became World No.1 in the ITF junior world rankings in 2023 but like Andreeva will look to make her mark on the senior ranks in 2024. Ending the season just outside the world's top 150, her Grand Slam debut will herald a rise likely towards the top 100.
4 min. watch to get to know Alina Korneeva on YouTube
Multiple Junior Grand Slam champion and former World No.1
In 2021, Korneeva finished runner-up at the European Junior Championships under-14 girls singles to Tereza Valentova. But ironically she defeated the Czech ace en route to her junior Grand Slam debut. This was after sealing a total of six singles titles on the ITF Junior Circuit in 2022 and winning her first $15k event in Casablanca in September that year.
As a result heading into her first Junior Grand Slam, she had the pedigree and delivered both in singles and doubles. She reached the semi-finals with Mirra Andreeva in the doubles and faced her compatriot in three sets in the girls' singles final. The latter called her 'my best friend' before their final and Korneeva foresaw many battles between the pair after sealing victory. "It's not our last battle. We will have a lot of good matches when you will win, when I will win...it was a hard battle."
Her year went from strength to strength as a result. In March, she qualified for a $60k senior tournament in Pretoria and defeated established WTA name, Timea Babos in the final at only 15. She reached the junior World No.1 spot in May of that season and then went on to win the French Open girls' singles defeating Lucciana Perez Alarcon in the final. She became the first player since Magdalena Maleeva in 1990 to win the first two Grand Slam events in the girls' singles in the same year. The only tournament she had no success in was Wimbledon losing in the first round.
Albeit during this period, Andreeva was the player to breakout with the Russian playing the Madrid Open and from there she now sits just inside the world's top 50 and in particular shone at Wimbledon reaching the fourth round. But she had made her WTA main tour debut much earlier than Korneeva in 2022.
Korneeva won in Figueira da Foz winning a $100k tournament and in October then qualified for her main tour debut seeing off Valeria Savinykh for a first WTA tour win at the Hong Kong Open. She then sealed the 2023 ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals defeating Sara Salito 6-0, 6-3 in the final and was crowned as an ITF World Champion alongside Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic in their end of season awards.
Path towards Melbourne main draw
She came through qualifying for the Australian Open to make her Grand Slam debut. With her ranking rise, it will likely be the only time she has to. Alina Korneeva saw off Sachia Vickery 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in the opening round before coming from a set down to see off Yexin Ma 5-7, 6-4, 7-6.
In reality, her easiest win was against Anna Bondar to actually qualify sealing that tie 6-3, 6-3 in the end and she will now face Sara Sorribes Tormo in the opening round. She also sits in a fairly good section for success and a breakout. Linda Fruhvirtova or Beatriz Haddad Maia would be a second round. While Caroline Wozniacki is the potential third round opponent with Maria Sakkari the big name seed in her section. After making a splash in qualifying, Korneeva could prove in Melbourne that she is the real deal.
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