Winner of the 2023 Australian Open and French Open girls' titles

Alina Korneeva

Right-handed, two-handed backhand — the 2023 junior world No. 1 who came back from wrist surgery to break into the WTA top 100 at 18.

Career-High Rank

No. 90

13 JUL 2026

Current Rank

No. 96

15 JUN 2026

Age

B. 23 JUN 2007

ITF Titles

MOSCOW, RUS

Career Trajectory

2023 Australian Open girls' champion — beat Mirra Andreeva 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-5 in a 3-hour-18-minute final on her Grand Slam junior debut.
2023 French Open girls' champion — first player since Magdalena Maleeva in 1990 to win the year's first two junior Slams; reached No. 1 in the ITF junior rankings.
2024 Wrist tendon injury required surgery in April, costing her more than six months of competition after a second-round run at the Australian Open.
2025 Comeback on the ITF circuit — won the W100 Caldas da Rainha plus W50 titles in Leiria and Évora to climb back toward the top 150.
2026 First WTA 125 title at Oeiras, qualified into the French Open and reached the second round, then made her top-100 debut at No. 96 in June.

Surface Split

HARD

CLAY

Grass: Wimbledon main-draw debut, 2026 Junior AO title; first WTA 125 title indoors Junior French Open title; 2026 RG second round

Quick Facts

Birthplace

Moscow, Russia

Training Base

Rafa Nadal Academy, Mallorca, Spain

Height

180 cm (5'11")

Plays

Right-handed

Backhand

Two-handed

Best Slam

2R — AO 2024, Roland Garros 2026

The Breakthrough

Korneeva's rise looked inevitable in 2023, when she won the Australian Open and French Open girls' titles back to back — the first player to open a season with both junior Slams since Magdalena Maleeva in 1990 — and finished the year as junior world No. 1. Then it stalled: a wrist tendon injury in early 2024 led to surgery that April and more than half a year off the tour, and her ranking slid out of top-100 contention and back to the ITF circuit.

"His support is immeasurable." — On Rafael Nadal's encouragement at his academy, where she trains · Puntodebreak, 2025

The rebuild ran through Portugal. Training at the Rafa Nadal Academy under coach Anabel Medina, she stacked up ITF titles in 2025 — a W100 in Caldas da Rainha and W50s in Leiria and Évora — then opened 2026 by winning her first WTA 125 title at Oeiras. A run through French Open qualifying into the second round pushed her into the world's top 100 for the first time, at No. 96, days before her 19th birthday and among the youngest players in the top 100.

In Her Own Words

"I'm so proud of myself, of my mental game."

AFTER WINNING THE 2023 AUSTRALIAN OPEN GIRLS' TITLE · WTATENNIS.COM

"It's my first Grand Slam and I hope not the last one."

ON HER JUNIOR SLAM DEBUT, MELBOURNE 2023 · WTATENNIS.COM

"I'm really happy that I didn't plan this, I just did it."

ON HER 2023 SEASON, WTA SCOUTING REPORT · WTATENNIS.COM

Playing Style

Marathon-match fighter Forehand winner production Forceful crosscourt backhand Coached toward first-strike aggression

Sources: Wikipedia (Alina Korneeva; 2023 Australian Open & French Open girls' singles; 2026 Oeiras Indoors 1) · WTA Tour player profile & news — "Korneeva wins Australian Open junior title after marathon final", "Korneeva wins French Open junior title", "Scouting Report: Junior No.1 Korneeva" · AusOpen.com juniors coverage, 2023 · Puntodebreak.com, "Korneeva's story of overcoming challenges in the shadow of Nadal", September 2025 · Tennis Inside Numbers, WTA 125 Oeiras final analysis, February 2026.
Compiled from public match reporting and official tour data — no private or unpublished sources used.