Destanee Aiava

Destanee Aiava

Aiava at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships
Full name	Destanee Gabriella Aiava
Country (sports)	Australia
Residence	Narre Warren, Victoria
Born	(2000-05-10) 10 May 2000 (age 23) Melbourne, Victoria
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro	2015
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach	Nicole Kriz
Prize money	$631,495
Singles
Career record	206–132 (60.9%)
Career titles	7 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 147 (11 September 2017)
Current ranking	No. 208 (4 December 2023)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	1R (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021)
French Open	Q1 (2017, 2018)
Wimbledon	Q3 (2017)
US Open	Q2 (2017)
Doubles
Career record	119–72 (62.3%)
Career titles	11 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 158 (27 November 2023)
Current ranking	No. 167 (4 December 2023)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	1R (2017, 2019, 2020, 2021)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	1R (2017)
Last updated on: 4 December 2023.

Destanee Gabriella Aiava (born 10 May 2000) is an Australian professional tennis player.

She has career-high WTA rankings of 147 in singles, achieved on 11 September 2017, and of 158 in doubles, achieved on 27 November 2023. Aiava has won seven singles titles and 11 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit.

She made her Grand Slam main-draw debut after winning the 2016 U18 Australian Championships, granting her a wildcard into the 2017 Australian Open. She thus became the first player, male or female, born in 2000 or later to participate in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament.^[1]

Early life

Aiava is of Samoan descent; her father, Mark, was born in New Zealand to Samoan parents, and her mother, Rosie, was born in American Samoa.^[2]

Junior career

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.^[3] 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, Quebec.

Professional career

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 tournament in Canberra. In December 2016, she won the U18 Girls' Australian Championships and earned a wildcard into the 2017 Australian Open. She thus became the first player born in the 21st century to play at a Grand Slam championship.^[4]

2017: First titles and Grand Slam debut

Aiava commenced the year by qualifying for the Brisbane International to make her maiden WTA main-draw appearance.^[5] Aiava defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the first round,^[6] before losing to two-time Grand Slam champion and world No. 9, Svetlana Kuznetsova. Aiava made her major debut at the Australian Open as a wildcard, losing in round one to Mona Barthel.

In February, Aiava won the first ITF title of her career, winning the $25k event in Perth by defeating Viktória Kužmová in the final. The following month, she won another $25k title, this time in Mornington, beating Barbora Krejčíková in the final. In April, Aiava was named in the Australia Fed Cup team for the first time.^[7] In May, she reached the semifinals of the Open Saint-Gaudens, before losing the first round of qualifying at the French Open. In June, Aiava lost in the final round of Wimbledon qualifying. In September, she reached the second round of qualifying for the US Open before granting a wildcard into Tournoi de Québec, where she lost in the first round. In October, Aiava reached the final of the Canberra International. In December, she was unable to defend her girls' title, losing to Jaimee Fourlis in a reversal of the result from 2016.^[8] The following week, Aiava won the Australian Open Wildcard Playoff.^[9][10]

2018: Third ITF title

Aiava was awarded a wildcard to Brisbane International^[11] where she lost in the first round to another wildcard entry, Ajla Tomljanović.^[12]

Aiava received another wildcard for the Australian Open, where she was defeated in the first round by world No. 1 and top seed, Simona Halep. Aiava had two set points in the first set before going off-court to receive a medical time out. She subsequently lost the match in straight sets.^[13] Aiava reached the quarterfinals of the Burnie International and Zhuhai Open, before reaching the final of the Clay Court International.^[14] In April, she won the title at the Osaka event; her third on the ITF Circuit and first title outside Australia.^[15]

In May, Aiava lost in the first round of French Open qualifying.

2019

Aiava began season at the Brisbane International. She qualified for the main draw with victories over Vania King, Mandy Minella and Christina McHale. She then defeated Kristina Mladenovic in the first round, before falling to second seed Naomi Osaka. Aiava received her third Australian Open wildcard entry, losing to 17th seed Madison Keys. She then won the Clay Court International title on March 24 by defeating world No. 289, Risa Ozaki.^[16]

2022

In January, Aiava lost in the first round of the Australian Open qualifying.^[18]

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 17 (7 titles, 10 runner-ups)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	May 2016	ITF Canberra, Australia	25,000	Clay	Eri Hozumi	3–6, 6–3, 6–7( )
Loss	0–2	Sep 2016	ITF Tweed Heads, Australia	25,000	Hard	Lizette Cabrera	3–6, 7–5, 2–6
Win	1–2	Feb 2017	ITF Perth, Australia	25,000	Hard	Viktória Kužmová	6–1, 6–1
Win	2–2	Mar 2017	ITF Mornington, Australia	25,000	Clay	Barbora Krejcikova	6–2, 4-6, 6-2
Loss	2–3	Nov 2017	ITF Canberra, Australia	60,000	Hard	Olivia Rogowska	1–6, 2–6
Loss	2–4	Mar 2018	ITF Canberra, Australia	60,000	Clay	Dalila Jakupović	4–6, 4–6
Win	3–4	Apr 2018	ITF Osaka, Japan	25,000	Hard	Rebecca Marino	6–3, 7–6(2)
Loss	3–5	Sep 2018	ITF Cairns, Australia	25,000	Hard	Astra Sharma	6–0, 6–7(5), 1–6
Win	4–5	Mar 2019	ITF Canberra, Australia	25,000	Clay	Risa Osaki	6–2, 6–2
Loss	4–6	Feb 2020	ITF Launceston, Australia	25,000	Hard	Asia Muhammad	4–6, 3–6
Loss	4–7	Feb 2020	ITF Perth, Australia	25,000	Hard	Maddison Inglis	4–6, 6–7(4)
Loss	4–8	Jul 2022	ITF Caloundra, Australia	15,000	Hard	Talia Gibson	6–7(4), 4–6
Loss	4–9	Jul 2022	ITF Caloundra, Australia	15,000	Hard	Talia Gibson	4–6, 2–3 ret.
Loss	4–10	Sep 2022	ITF Darwin, Australia	25,000	Hard	Alexandra Bozovic	1–6, 4–6
Win	5–10	Nov 2022	ITF Traralgon, Australia	25,000	Hard	Lizette Cabrera	6–3, 6–7(4), 6–4
Win	6–10	Aug 2023	ITF Aldershot, United Kingdom	25,000	Hard	Alex Eala	3–6, 6–4, 6–1
Win	7–10	Sep 2023	ITF Cairns, Australia	25,000	Hard	Lizette Cabrera	w/o
Win	8–10	Nov 2023	ITF Sydney, Australia	60,000	Hard	Astra Sharma	6–3, 6–4

Doubles: 20 (12 titles, 8 runner-ups)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Aug 2018	ITF Nonthaburi, Thailand	25,000	Hard	Naiktha Bains	Wang Xinyu Wang Xiyu	5–7, 7–5, [4–10]
Loss	0–2	Nov 2018	Canberra International, Australia	60,000	Hard	Naiktha Bains	Ellen Perez Arina Rodionova	7–6(5), 3–6, [7–10]
Loss	0–3	Mar 2019	Clay Court International, Australia	25,000	Clay	Ellen Perez	Naiktha Bains Tereza Mihalikova	6–4, 2–6, [4–10]
Loss	0–4	Apr 2019	Dothan Pro Classic, United States	80,000	Clay	Astra Sharma	Caroline Dolehide Usue Maitane Arconada	6–7(5), 4–6
Win	1–4	Sep 2019	Darwin International, Australia	60,000	Hard	Lizette Cabrera	Alison Bai Jaimee Fourlis	6–4, 2–6, [10–3]
Win	2–4	Oct 2019	ITF Brisbane, Australia	25,000	Hard	Naiktha Bains	Alison Bai Paige Hourigan	6–3, 6–3
Win	3–4	June 2021	ITF Madrid, Spain	25,000	Hard	Olivia Gadecki	Mana Ayukawa Han Na-lae	6–3, 6–3
Loss	3–5	Oct 2022	ITF Cairns, Australia	25,000	Hard	Lisa Mays	Naiktha Bains Alexandra Bozovic	4–6, 4–6
Win	4–5	Nov 2022	Sydney Challenger, Australia	60,000	Hard	Lisa Mays	Alexandra Osborne Jessy Rompies	5–7, 6–3, [10–6]
Win	5–5	Nov 2022	ITF Traralgon, Australia	25,000	Hard	Katherine Westbury	Ankita Raina Priska Madelyn Nugroho	6–1, 4–6, [10–5]
Win	6–5	Feb 2023	Burnie International, Australia	25,000	Hard	Naiktha Bains	Lily Fairclough Olivia Gadecki	7–5, 6–3
Loss	6–6	Mar 2023	ITF Canberra, Australia	60,000	Clay	Olivia Gadecki	Erina Hayashi Yuki Naito	6–7(2), 5-7
Loss	6–7	June 2023	Madrid Open, Spain	60,000	Hard	Berfu Cengiz	Makenna Jones Jamie Loeb	4–6, 7–5, [6–10]
Win	7–7	Jul 2023	ITF Foxhills, Great Britain	25,000	Hard	Rutuja Bhosale	Talia Gibson Petra Hule	6-2, 6-3
Win	8–7	Aug 2023	ITF Aldershot, Great Britain	25,000	Hard	Sarah Beth Grey	Erina Hayashi Saki Imamura	6-4, 6-3
Win	9–7	Sep 2023	ITF Perth, Australia	25,000	Hard	Maddison Inglis	Misaki Matsuda Naho Sato	6-1, 6-4
Win	10–7	Sep 2023	ITF Perth, Australia	25,000	Hard	Maddison Inglis	Talia Gibson Taylah Preston	6-3, 7–6(3)
Win	11–7	Oct 2023	ITF Cairns, Australia	25,000	Hard	Taylah Preston	Roisin Gilheany Alicia Smith	7-6(5), 7-5
Win	12–7	Oct 2023	NSW Open, Australia	60,000	Hard	Maddison Inglis	Kyōka Okamura Ayano Shimizu	6–0, 6–0
Loss	12–8	Nov 2023	ITF Brisbane, Australia	60,000	Hard	Maddison Inglis	Talia Gibson Priscilla Hon	6–4, 5–7, [5–10]

Top 10 wins

#	Player	Rank	Tournament	Surface	Rd	Score	DAR
2019
1.	Aryna Sabalenka	No. 10	Rosmalen Championships, Netherlands	Grass	1R	7–6(3), 1–6, 6–4	No. 214

References

Further reading

• Herald Sun
• The Sydney Morning Herald
• The Sydney Morning Herald
• Herald Sun
• Courier Mail
• UBI Tennis

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Destanee Aiava.

• Destanee Aiava at the Women's Tennis Association
• Destanee Aiava at the International Tennis Federation
• Destanee Aiava at Tennis Australia