Alina Aleksandrovna Korneeva (Russian: Алина Александровна Корнеева, born 23 June 2007) is a Russian professional tennis player. In 2023, she won two Grand Slam girls' singles titles at the Australian Open and the French Open and reached world No. 1 in the ITF junior rankings.[2][3]
Career
2021
Korneeva finished runner-up at the European Junior Championships under-14 girls singles to the Czech player Tereza Valentová.[4][5]
2022
On the ITF Junior Circuit, in 2022 Korneeva's tally of six singles titles saw her claim the most singles titles in girls’ tennis that year.[6] Korneeva won her first $15k event in Casablanca in September, defeating Laura Hietaranta in the final.[7]
2023: No. 1 junior, WTA Tour debut
Korneeva had success in her junior Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open, reaching the semifinals of the girls' doubles with partner Mirra Andreeva, and defeating Andreeva in three sets in the final of the girls' singles.[8] Before their final, Andreeva said, "She is a really good friend of mine, my best friend."[9] After the match, Korneeva told her on court, "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."[10] In the quarterfinals of the girls singles, Korneeva defeated second seed Tereza Valentová, who 18 months prior, had defeated Korneeva in the under-14 girls singles final at the European Junior Championships.[11]
In March, Korneeva qualified for the main draw and won the $60k event in Pretoria, defeating Tímea Babos in the final, in straight sets. At age 15 years, eight months and 18 days, Korneeva became the fifth youngest player in history to win an ITF tournament at $60k level or above.[12]
On 1 May, Korneeva reached No. 1 in the ITF junior world rankings.[citation needed]
In July, Korneeva qualified for the main draw and won the $100k Figueira da Foz Open, defeating French player Carole Monnet 6–0, 6–0, and becoming the youngest player to win a W100 title.[15] Together with Anastasia Tikhonova, she also reached the final of the same event in doubles.[citation needed]
Born in Moscow,[28] Korneeva has been nicknamed the "mini Sharapova" in some quarters.[29] Her father, Aleksandr Korneev, is a former volleyball player who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Korneeva currently trains in Moscow.[30]
Grand Slam singles performance timeline
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2024)