Astra Sharma

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Astra Sharma
File:Sharma RG19 (11) (48199055287).jpg
Sharma at the 2019 French Open
Country (sports)  Australia
Residence Perth
Singapore
Born (1995-09-11) 11 September 1995 (age 29)
Singapore[1]
Height 1.78 m
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach(es) David Taylor
Prize money US $1,418,835
Singles
Career record 162–111 (59.34%)
Career titles 1
Highest ranking No. 84 (21 February 2022)
Current ranking No. 101 (27 June 2022)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 2R (2019)
French Open 2R (2020, 2021)
Wimbledon 1R (2019, 2021, 2022)
US Open 1R (2019, 2020, 2021)
Doubles
Career record 78–64 (54.93%)
Career titles 3
Highest ranking No. 91 (21 February 2022)
Current ranking No. 136 (27 June 2022)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open 1R (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
French Open 1R (2019, 2020, 2021)
Wimbledon 2R (2019)
US Open 1R (2021)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open F (2019)
Last updated on: 27 June 2022.

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

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

The highlight of her career came in the 2019 Australian Open, when she and fellow Australian John-Patrick Smith reached the final of the mixed-doubles competition, after receiving a wildcard to enter the main draw.

Personal life

Astra was born and raised in Singapore to Singaporean parents, before her parents moved to Perth, Western Australia in 2005, when she was ten years old.[2] She attended Applecross Senior High School.[3] As a junior, she did some training at Bullcreek Tennis Club, near Willeton.

Sharma's father, Devdutt Sharma, is a Singaporean Indian.[4] He was a high jumper.[5] He attended Raffles Institution (RI) and National University of Singapore (NUS).[5] He worked as an acoustic engineer and had served as a artillery officer during his service at the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).[5] Astra's mother, Susan Tan, is a Singaporean Chinese. She was a sprinter from CHIJ Saint Theresa's Convent.[5]

Astra, named after the Astras wielded by the Hindu gods, has a younger brother Ashwin who also went into a tennis career.[4] Astra commonly speaks Singlish at home with her parents, and her favourite dish is the Singaporean dish Hainanese chicken rice.[5]

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 of 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 the ITF Circuit 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 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 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 and reached the second round of the French Open.

2021: First WTA title

Sharma started 2021, losing in the first round of the Gippsland Trophy.

She defeated top seed Ons Jabeur to win the Charleston Open, her first WTA Tour-level 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. At the US Open, she qualified before losing to eighth seed Barbora Krejčíková in the first round. Sharma ended 2021 with a singles ranking of No. 98, a career year-end high and a doubles ranking of No. 107.

Performance timelines

Key
W  F  SF QF R# RR Q# A P Z# PO G F-S SF-B NMS NH
(W) Won tournament; reached (F) final, (SF) semifinal, (QF) quarterfinal; (R#) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a (RR) round-robin stage; reached a (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent from tournament; played in a (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; won a (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; or (NH) tournament not held.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated either at the conclusion of a tournament, or when the player's participation in the tournament has ended.

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

Singles

Current through the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.

Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open 2R 1R 1R 1R 0 / 4 1–4 20%
French Open 1R 2R 2R 1R 0 / 4 2–4 33%
Wimbledon 1R NH 1R 1R 0 / 3 0–3 0%
US Open 1R 1R 1R 0 / 3 0–3 0%
Win–loss 1–4 1–3 1–4 0–3 0 / 14 3–14 18%
WTA 1000
Dubai / Qatar Open[lower-alpha 1] A A A Q1 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Indian Wells Open A NH 2R 2R 0 / 2 2–2 50%
Miami Open A NH Q1 1R 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Madrid Open A NH A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Italian Open A A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Canadian Open Q1 NH Q1 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Cincinnati Open 1R Q2 Q1 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Wuhan Open A NH 0 / 0 0–0  – 
China Open Q1 NH 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Career statistics
Tournaments 10 5 12 9 Career total: 36
Titles 0 0 1 0 Career total: 1
Finals 1 0 1 0 Career total: 2
Overall win–loss 7–10 2–5 12–11 3–9 1 / 36 24–35 41%
Year-end ranking 108 128 98 $1,153,014

Doubles

Tournament 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 SR W–L Win %
Australian Open 1R 1R 1R 1R A 0 / 4 0–4 0%
French Open A 1R 1R 1R A 0 / 3 0–3 0%
Wimbledon A 2R NH A 1R 0 / 2 1–2 33%
US Open A A A 1R 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Win–loss 0–1 1–3 0–2 0–3 0–1 0 / 10 1–10 9%

Mixed doubles

Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022 SR W–L Win %
Australian Open F SF 1R 1R 0 / 4 7–4 64%
French Open A NH A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Wimbledon A NH A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
US Open A NH A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Win–loss 4–1 3–1 0–1 0–1 0 / 4 7–4 64%

Grand Slam tournament finals

Mixed doubles: 1 (runner-up)

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2019 Australian Open Hard Australia John-Patrick Smith Czech Republic Barbora Krejčíková
United States Rajeev Ram
6–7(3–7), 1–6

WTA career finals

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

Legend
Grand Slam
WTA 1000
WTA 500
International / WTA 250 (1–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (1–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Apr 2019 Copa Colsanitas, Colombia International Clay United States Amanda Anisimova 6–4, 4–6, 1–6
Win 1–1 Apr 2021 Charleston Open, United States WTA 250 Clay (green) Tunisia Ons Jabeur 2–6, 7–5, 6–1

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

Legend
Grand Slam
WTA 1000
WTA 500
International / WTA 250 (3–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (2–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Apr 2019 Copa Colsanitas, Colombia International Clay Australia Zoe Hives United States Hayley Carter
United States Ena Shibahara
6–1, 6–2
Win 2–0 Mar 2021 Abierto Zapopan, ​Mexico WTA 250 Hard Australia Ellen Perez United States Desirae Krawczyk
Mexico Giuliana Olmos
6–4, 6–4
Loss 2–1 Jul 2021 Hamburg European Open, Germany WTA 250 Clay Netherlands Rosalie van der Hoek Italy Jasmine Paolini
Switzerland Jil Teichmann
0–6, 4–6
Win 3–1 Apr 2022 Copa Colsanitas, Colombia (2) WTA 250 Clay Indonesia Aldila Sutjiadi United States Emina Bektas
United Kingdom Tara Moore
4–6, 6–4, [11–9]

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 9 (7 titles, 2 runner–ups)

Legend
$25,000 tournaments (4–1)
$15,000 tournaments (2–1)
$10,000 tournaments (1–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (5–1)
Clay (2–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Jul 2015 ITF Sharm El Sheikh, ​Egypt 10,000 Hard Egypt Ola Abou Zekry 6–3, 2–6, 6–0
Win 2–0 Jul 2017 ITF Târgu Jiu, ​Romania 15,000 Clay Australia Belinda Woolcock 1–6, 6–2, 7–5
Win 3–0 Aug 2017 ITF Graz, ​Austria 15,000 Clay Czech Republic Vendula Žovincová 2–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss 3–1 Oct 2017 ITF Toowoomba, ​Australia 25,000 Hard Japan Eri Hozumi 5–7, 2–6
Loss 3–2 Mar 2018 ITF Orlando, ​United States 15,000 Clay United States Sophie Chang 3–6, 6–7(6–8)
Win 4–2 Jun 2018 ITF Baton Rouge, ​United States 25,000 Hard United States Maria Mateas 6–2, 6–1
Win 5–2 Jul 2018 ITF Gatineau, ​Canada 25,000 Hard Mexico Victoria Rodríguez 3–6, 6–4, 6–3
Win 6–2 Sep 2018 ITF Cairns, ​Australia 25,000 Hard Australia Destanee Aiava 0–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–1
Win 7–2 Mar 2019 ITF Irapuato, ​Mexico 25,000 Hard Paraguay Verónica Cepede Royg 6–7(3–7), 6–4, 6–3

Doubles: 8 (4 titles, 4 runner–ups)

Legend
$100,000 tournaments (0–1)
$80,000 tournaments (0–1)
$25,000 tournaments (2–2)
$10,000 tournaments (2–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–2)
Clay (2–2)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Jul 2016 ITF Amstelveen, ​Netherlands 10,000 Clay United States Frances Altick Netherlands Erika Vogelsang
Netherlands Mandy Wagemaker
6–4, 6–2
Win 2–0 Jul 2016 ITF Knokke, ​Belgium 10,000 Clay United States Frances Altick Belgium Déborah Kerfs
Netherlands Kelly Versteeg
6–4, 6–4
Loss 2–1 Oct 2017 ITF Cairns, ​Australia 25,000 Hard Australia Belinda Woolcock Australia Naiktha Bains
Papua New Guinea Abigail Tere-Apisah
6–4, 2–6, [6–10]
Win 3–1 Jun 2018 ITF Sumter, ​United States 25,000 Hard Brazil Luisa Stefani United States Julia Elbaba
China Xu Shilin
2–6, 6–3, [10–5]
Loss 3–2 Jun 2018 ITF Baton Rouge, ​United States 25,000 Hard Romania Gabriela Talabă United States Hayley Carter
United States Ena Shibahara
3–6, 4–6
Win 4–2 Mar 2019 ITF Irapuato, ​Mexico 25,000 Hard New Zealand Paige Hourigan Paraguay Verónica Cepede Royg
Czech Republic Renata Voráčová
6–1, 4–6, [12–10]
Loss 4–3 Apr 2019 ITF Dothan, ​United States 80,000 Clay Australia Destanee Aiava United States Usue Maitane Arconada
United States Caroline Dolehide
6–7(5–7), 4–6
Loss 4–4 Nov 2020 ITF Charleston, ​United States 100,000 Clay Egypt Mayar Sherif Poland Magdalena Fręch
Poland Katarzyna Kawa
6–4, 4–6, [2–10]

Notes

  1. The first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009–2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.

References

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  6. Astra Sharma: From Currey Tennis Center to the Australian Open Finals
  7. Medical school? Vanderbilt star Astra Sharma is going pro in tennis after postseason
  8. GAME, SET, MATCH: WTA AND UF'S WINNING PARTNERSHIP
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External links