Astra Sharma

Astra Sharma (born 11 September 1995) is an Australian professional tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of 84 in singles and world No. 91 in doubles. Sharma has won one singles title and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour. She has also won one singles title on the WTA Challenger Tour as well as eight titles in singles and seven in doubles on the ITF Circuit.

Astra Sharma
Country (sports) Australia
ResidencePerth, Western Australia
Born (1995-09-11) 11 September 1995 (age 28)
Singapore[1]
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
PlaysRight (two-handed backhand)
CoachDavid Taylor
Prize moneyUS$ 1,727,122
Singles
Career record216–144 (60.0%)
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 84 (21 February 2022)
Current rankingNo. 135 (18 March 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2019)
French Open2R (2020, 2021)
Wimbledon1R (2019, 2021, 2022)
US Open1R (2019, 2020, 2021)
Doubles
Career record110–88 (55.6%)
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 91 (21 February 2022)
Current rankingNo. 191 (1 April 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open1R (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024)
French Open1R (2019, 2020, 2021)
Wimbledon2R (2019)
US Open1R (2021)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian OpenF (2019)
Last updated on: 3 April 2024.

In December 2017, she won the Australian Open Wildcard Playoff alongside Belinda Woolcock, their main-draw entry into the 2018 Australian Open.

At the 2019 Australian Open, she and fellow Australian John-Patrick Smith reached the final of the mixed-doubles competition after receiving a wildcard to enter the main draw.

Early life

Sharma's father, Devdutt Sharma, is a Singaporean Indian with roots from Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Northern India.[2] He was a high jumper.[3] He attended Raffles Institution and National University of Singapore.[3] He worked as an acoustic engineer.[3] Astra's mother, Susan Tan, is a Singaporean Chinese. She was a sprinter from CHIJ Saint Theresa's Convent.[3] Astra, named after the Astras wielded by the Hindu gods, has a younger brother Ashwin who also went into a tennis career.[2]

Astra was born and raised in Singapore, before her parents emigrated to Perth, Western Australia in 2005, when she was ten years old.[4] She attended Applecross Senior High School.[5] As a junior, she did some training at Bullcreek Tennis Club, near Willeton.

Career

2011–2014: Career beginnings and first title

Sharma made her ITF Circuit debut in October 2011, after qualifying in Kargoorlie. In 2012, Sharma played just four tournaments, without a win. In March 2013, she reached the quarterfinals in doubles at an ITF event in Sydney. In 2014, she competed in qualifying in three tournaments across the U.S., making the main draw in just one, where she lost in the first round.

In 2015, Sharma played just three tournaments on the ITF Circuit, reaching the quarterfinal or better in all three. She won her first title in July 2015 at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Sharma ended the season with a singles rank of 787. She also received a scholarship to Vanderbilt University, graduating in 2018, majoring in medicine, Health and Society, along the way helping the Commodores win their first NCAA team tournament in 2015, with various honors such as a selection to the 2014 SEC All Freshman team and being the 2017 SEC Player of the Year.[6] Originally intent on becoming an orthopedic surgeon, she decided not to continue in medical school as her professional tennis career took off.[7] Still in 2022, she used a partnership between the WTA and the University of Florida to earn a Master's degree in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology.[8]

2016–2018: ITF Circuit

In 2016, Sharma competed on the European ITF Circuit. She experienced little singles success but partnering Frances Altick, won two doubles titles in July.

She commenced the next season in June, qualifying and making the main draw in Sumter, USA. Across July and August 2017, Sharma won her second and third ITF titles in Târgu Jiu and Graz. She ended the year with a singles rank of 440.

In 2018, Sharma competed mostly on ITF events across North America. In March, she reached the final of the ITF Orlando. In June and July, she won her fourth and fifth singles titles in Baton Rouge and Gatineau, Canada. In October, she returned to Australia and reached the quarterfinals in three consecrative tournaments. Sharma ended 2018 with a singles rank of 225.

2019: First WTA Tour final

In January 2019, Sharma qualified for the Australian Open and won her first-round match over fellow Australian Priscilla Hon, before losing in the second round.[9] In mixed doubles, she and John-Patrick Smith made it through to the final, after they defeated the second seed team of Bruno Soares and Nicole Melichar in the semifinals, but lost to the third seeds, Barbora Krejčíková and Rajeev Ram.[10] In March, Sharma won the $25k singles and doubles at Irapuato, Mexico. In April, Sharma reached her first WTA Tour final, losing to Amanda Anisimova at the Copa Colsanitas. In May, she qualified for and reached the second round of the Strasbourg International, and later lost in the first round at the French Open. Sharma competed in qualifying events across the European grass-court season and lost in the first round of Wimbledon. In August, she travelled to North America and qualified for Cincinnati. At the US Open, Sharma lost in the first round. She ended the year with a singles rank of 108, and a doubles rank of 136.

2020: First French Open match win

Sharma started 2020, losing in the singles and doubles first rounds of both Hobart International and Australian Open. For the mixed doubles, she partnered again with John-Patrick Smith, and they reached the semifinals in Melbourne. In March, Sharma reached the second round of the Monterrey Open and the quarterfinal of the ITF event in Irapuato, Mexico, before the tour was stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]

At the US Open, Sharma lost in the first round to 19th seed Dayana Yastremska in a third set tie-breaker.

She qualified for the French Open and reached the second round of this year's much later held event.

2021: First WTA title, career-high ranking

Sharma started 2021, losing in the first round of the Gippsland Trophy.She defeated top seed Ons Jabeur to win the 2021 MUSC Health Women's Open, her first WTA title.

In May, Sharma made the second round of the French Open for a second consecutive year.In June, she entered Wimbledon as a lucky loser and was defeated by Kristýna Plíšková in the first round.

Sharma lost in the first round of qualifying for both Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open. At the US Open, she qualified before losing to eighth seed Barbora Krejčíková in the first round. In October, she reached the second round at the Indian Wells Open.

Sharma ended 2021 with a singles ranking of 98, a career year-end high, and a doubles ranking of world No. 107.

2022–2024: Back to top 150

In 2022, she reached the second round at Indian Wells for the second consecutive year. Later in the season, her singles ranking dropped to No. 200, on 25 July 2022.

In 2024, she entered the 2024 Credit One Charleston Open as a lucky loser and defeated compatriot Arina Rodionova and 16th seed Lesia Tsurenko to reach the round of 16.

Performance timelines

Key
W F SFQF#RRRQ#P#DNQAZ#POGSBNMSNTIPNH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Billie Jean King Cup, United Cup, Hopman Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.[12]

Singles

Current through the 2024 Mutua Madrid Open.

Tournament201920202021202220232024SRW–LWin %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open2R1R1R1RQ2Q20 / 41–420%
French Open1R2R2R1RA0 / 42–433%
Wimbledon1RNH1R1RA0 / 30–30%
US Open1R1R1RQ3Q10 / 30–30%
Win–loss1–41–31–40–30–00–00 / 143–1418%
WTA 1000
Dubai / Qatar Open[a]AAAQ1AA0 / 00–0 – 
Indian Wells OpenANH2R2RAA0 / 22–250%
Miami OpenANHQ11RAA0 / 10–10%
Madrid OpenANHAAAQ20 / 00–0 – 
Italian OpenAAAAA0 / 00–0 – 
Canadian OpenQ1NHQ1AA0 / 00–0 – 
Cincinnati Open1RQ2Q1AA0 / 10–10%
Wuhan OpenANHA0 / 00–0 – 
China OpenQ1NHA0 / 00–0 – 
Guadalajara OpenNHAA0 / 00–0 – 
Career statistics
Tournaments105121110Career total: 39
Titles001000Career total: 1
Finals101000Career total: 2
Overall win–loss7–102–512–113–110–10–01 / 3924–3938%
Year-end ranking10812896231120$1,599,235

Doubles

Current through the 2024 Australian Open.

Tournament2018201920202021202220232024SRW–LWin %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open1R1R1R1RA1R1R0 / 60–60%
French OpenA1R1R1RAA0 / 30–30%
WimbledonA2RNHA1RA0 / 21–233%
US OpenAAA1RAA0 / 10–10%
Win–loss0–11–30–20–30–10–10–10 / 121–128%
Career statistics
Tournaments16513911Career total: 36
Titles0101100Career total: 3
Finals0102100Career total: 4
Overall win–loss0–14–52–511–128–80–10–13 / 3625–3344%
Year-end ranking327136109107117204

Mixed doubles

Tournament20192020202120222023SRW–LWin %
Australian OpenFSF1R1RA0 / 47–464%
French OpenANHAAA0 / 00–0 – 
WimbledonANHAAA0 / 00–0 – 
US OpenANHAAA0 / 00–0 – 
Win–loss4–13–10–10–10–00 / 47–464%

Grand Slam tournament finals

Mixed doubles: 1 (runner-up)

ResultYearTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss2019Australian OpenHard John-Patrick Smith Barbora Krejčíková
Rajeev Ram
6–7(3–7), 1–6

WTA Tour finals

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Legend
Grand Slam
WTA 1000
WTA 500
WTA 250[b] (1–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (1–1)
Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1Apr 2019Copa Colsanitas, ColombiaInternationalClay Amanda Anisimova6–4, 4–6, 1–6
Win1–1Apr 2021Charleston Open, United StatesWTA 250Clay Ons Jabeur2–6, 7–5, 6–1

Doubles: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

Legend
Grand Slam
WTA 1000
WTA 500
WTA 250 (3–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (2–1)
Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0Apr 2019Copa Colsanitas, ColombiaInternationalClay Zoe Hives Hayley Carter
Ena Shibahara
6–1, 6–2
Win2–0Mar 2021Abierto Zapopan, ​MexicoWTA 250Hard Ellen Perez Desirae Krawczyk
Giuliana Olmos
6–4, 6–4
Loss2–1Jul 2021Hamburg European Open, GermanyWTA 250Clay Rosalie van der Hoek Jasmine Paolini
Jil Teichmann
0–6, 4–6
Win3–1Apr 2022Copa Colsanitas, Colombia (2)WTA 250Clay Aldila Sutjiadi Emina Bektas
Tara Moore
4–6, 6–4, [11–9]

WTA Challenger finals

Singles: 1 (title)

ResultW-L   Date   TournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–0Sep 2023Open Romania Ladies, RomaniaClay Sara Errani0–6, 7–5, 6–2

Doubles: 1 (runner-up)

ResultW–LDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–1Jan 2024Canberra International, AustraliaHard Kaylah McPhee Veronika Erjavec
Darja Semeņistaja
2–6, 4–6

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 13 (8 titles, 5 runner–ups)

Legend
$60,000 tournaments (1–2)
$40,000 tournaments (0–1)
$25,000 tournaments (4–1)
$10/15,000 tournaments (3–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (6–2)
Clay (2–3)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–0Jul 2015ITF Sharm El Sheikh, ​Egypt10,000Hard Ola Abou Zekry6–3, 2–6, 6–0
Win2–0Jul 2017ITF Târgu Jiu, ​Romania15,000Clay Belinda Woolcock1–6, 6–2, 7–5
Win3–0Aug 2017ITF Graz, ​Austria15,000Clay Vendula Žovincová2–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss3–1Oct 2017ITF Toowoomba, ​Australia25,000Hard Eri Hozumi5–7, 2–6
Loss3–2Mar 2018ITF Orlando, ​United States15,000Clay Sophie Chang3–6, 6–7(6–8)
Win4–2Jun 2018ITF Baton Rouge, ​United States25,000Hard Maria Mateas6–2, 6–1
Win5–2Jul 2018Challenger de Gatineau, ​Canada25,000Hard Victoria Rodríguez3–6, 6–4, 6–3
Win6–2Sep 2018ITF Cairns, ​Australia25,000Hard Destanee Aiava0–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–1
Win7–2Mar 2019ITF Irapuato, ​Mexico25,000Hard Verónica Cepede Royg6–7(3–7), 6–4, 6–3
Loss7–3Jun 2023ITF Ystad, Sweden40,000Clay İpek Öz1–6, 3–6
Loss7–4Jul 2023Open de Montpellier, France60,000Clay Clara Burel3–6, 5–7
Win8–4Oct 2023Playford International, Australia60,000Hard Joanna Garland7–6(6), 6–0
Loss8–5Oct 2023Sydney Open, Australia60,000Hard Destanee Aiava3–6, 4–6

Doubles: 12 (7 titles, 5 runner–ups)

Legend
$100,000 tournaments (0–1)
$80,000 tournaments (0–1)
$60,000 tournaments (1–1)
$40,000 tournaments (2–0)
$25,000 tournaments (2–2)
$10,000 tournaments (2–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–3)
Clay (5–2)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0Jul 2016ITF Amstelveen, ​Netherlands10,000Clay Frances Altick Erika Vogelsang
Mandy Wagemaker
6–4, 6–2
Win2–0Jul 2016ITF Knokke, ​Belgium10,000Clay Frances Altick Déborah Kerfs
Kelly Versteeg
6–4, 6–4
Loss2–1Oct 2017ITF Cairns, ​Australia25,000Hard Belinda Woolcock Naiktha Bains
Abigail Tere-Apisah
6–4, 2–6, [6–10]
Win3–1Jun 2018ITF Sumter, ​United States25,000Hard Luisa Stefani Julia Elbaba
Xu Shilin
2–6, 6–3, [10–5]
Loss3–2Jun 2018ITF Baton Rouge, ​United States25,000Hard Gabriela Talabă Hayley Carter
Ena Shibahara
3–6, 4–6
Win4–2Mar 2019ITF Irapuato, ​Mexico25,000Hard Paige Hourigan Verónica Cepede Royg
Renata Voráčová
6–1, 4–6, [12–10]
Loss4–3Apr 2019Dothan Pro Classic, ​United States80,000Clay Destanee Aiava Usue Maitane Arconada
Caroline Dolehide
6–7(5), 4–6
Loss4–4Nov 2020ITF Charleston Pro, ​United States100,000Clay Mayar Sherif Magdalena Fręch
Katarzyna Kawa
6–4, 4–6, [2–10]
Win5–4May 2023ITF Naples, United States60,000Clay Christina Rosca Sophie Chang
Angela Kulikov
6–1, 7–6(15-13)
Win6–4Jun 2023ITF Ystad, Sweden40,000Clay Valeriya Strakhova Jenny Dürst
Fanny Östlund
4–6, 7–6(7–3), [11–9]
Win7–4Sep 2023ITF Kuršumlijska Banja, Serbia40,000Clay Valeriya Strakhova Anastasia Gasanova
Ekaterina Makarova
6–1, 6–4
Loss7–5Oct 2023Playford International, Australia60,000Hard Kaylah McPhee Talia Gibson
Priscilla Hon
1–6, 2-6

Notes

References

External links