Ayana Akli

Ayana Akli

Akli playing for the South Carolina Gamecocks in 2023
Country (sports)	United States
Born	(2001-07-06) July 6, 2001 (age 24) Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
Height	1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
College	Maryland South Carolina
Prize money	US$54,473
Singles
Career record	75–37
Career titles	1 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 285 (August 11, 2025)
Current ranking	No. 285 (August 11, 2025)
Grand Slam singles results
US Open	Q2 ( 2025 )
Doubles
Career record	38–25
Career titles	4 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 171 (August 11, 2025)
Current ranking	No. 171 (August 11, 2025)
Last updated on: August 11, 2025.

Ayana Akli (born July 6, 2001) is an American professional tennis player. She has career-high rankings of No. 285 in singles, achieved on August 11, 2025, and No. 171 in doubles, achieved on August 11, 2025. She played collegiate tennis at the University of Maryland and the University of South Carolina.

Early life

Akli was born in Silver Spring, Maryland, to Komi and Linda Akli. ^[1] Her father is a former professional tennis player who immigrated to the United States from Togo in 1996; he was the childhood coach of Frances Tiafoe. ^{[2] [3]} She began playing tennis at the age of four and trained at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park. ^[1] She attended Wheaton High School, where she was a three-time state champion in girls' singles. ^{[4] [5] [6]} She later received a degree in civil engineering from the University of South Carolina. ^[7]

Career

In 2019, Akli signed a letter of intent to play collegiate tennis for the Maryland Terrapins. ^[1] After two years, she transferred to the University of South Carolina. ^[8] Playing for the South Carolina Gamecocks, she reached career-high national rankings of No. 3 in singles and No. 10 in doubles. She also received ITA All-American and All-SEC honors and was named the SEC Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year. ^[7]

In October 2023, she reached the semifinals of the Christus Health Pro Challenge as a qualifier. ^[9] In July 2024, she reached the semifinals of the Championnats Banque Nationale de Granby as a qualifier. ^[10] Later that year, she won her first professional doubles title at the W35 USTA Pro Circuit event in Redding, partnering Eryn Cayetano. ^[11]

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)

Legend
W35 tournaments (1–2)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Apr 2025	ITF Charlotte, United States	W35	Clay	Alicia Herrero Liñana	1–6, 6–7(1)
Loss	0–2	May 2025	ITF Boca Raton, United States	W35	Clay	Monika Ekstrand  [ de ]	2–6, 1–6
Win	0–3	May 2025	ITF Bethany Beach, United States	W35	Clay	Ana Sofía Sánchez	6–2, 7–5

Doubles: 9 (4 titles, 5 runner-ups)

Legend
W100 tournaments (1–1)
W60/75 tournaments (1–0)
W50 tournaments (0–1)
W25/35 tournaments (2–2)
W15 tournaments (0–1)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Oct 2023	ITF Florence, United States	W25	Hard	Nicole Khirin	Abigail Rencheli Alana Smith	6–3, 6–7(9), [6-10]
Win	1–1	Sep 2024	ITF Redding, United States	W35	Hard	Eryn Cayetano	Clervie Ngounoue Himeno Sakatsume	6–2, 6–2
Loss	1–2	Jan 2025	ITF Palm Coast, United States	W35	Clay	Abigail Rencheli	Jasmijn Gimbrère Lisa Zaar	4–6, 6–3, [8–10]
Loss	1–3	Mar 2025	ITF Hagetmau, France	W15	Hard	Mia Horvit	Sarah Iliev Emma Léné	6–7(2), 6–3, [8–10]
Loss	1–4	Mar 2025	ITF Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	W50	Hard	Clervie Ngounoue	Anastasia Tikhonova Mariia Tkacheva	6–7(5), 7–6(2), [7–10]
Win	2–4	Apr 2025	ITF Boca Raton, United States	W35	Clay	Diae El Jardi	Despina Papamichail Gergana Topalova	7–6(1), 7–5
Win	3–4	Jun 2025	Cary Tennis Classic, United States	W100	Hard	Abigail Rencheli	Gabriella Broadfoot Maddy Zampardo	6–3, 6–2
Loss	3–5	Jul 2025	ITF Evansville, United States	W100	Hard	Victoria Osuigwe	Arianne Hartono Prarthana Thombare	3–6, 3–6
Win	4–5	Jul 2025	Lexington Open, United States	W75	Hard	Eryn Cayetano	Elvina Kalieva Alana Smith	4–6, 6–2, [10–4]

References

1. Soong, Kelyn (January 10, 2019). "Elite Junior Tennis Player Ayana Akli Is Paving Her Own Path". Washington City Paper . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
2. Jiménez, Jesus (September 8, 2022). "In Maryland, Frances Tiafoe's Former Home Rallies Behind Him" . The New York Times . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
3. Tennery, Amy; Chavez, Julio-Cesar (September 10, 2022). "Early mentors cheer Tiafoe's 'unbelievable' U.S. Open run". Reuters . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
4. Haufe, William (March 31, 2018). "KI girls, Easton boys ready to defend titles". The Star Democrat . Retrieved July 8, 2025.
5. Soong, Kelyn (May 26, 2018). "Wheaton's Ayana Akli, Wootton's Joseph Brailovsky defend Maryland state tennis titles" . The Washington Post . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
6. Oyefusi, Daniel (May 5, 2019). "Wheaton's Ayana Akli wraps high school career with third straight Maryland 4A tennis title". The Washington Post . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
7. Muller, Brad (April 26, 2024). "Akli Looks Forward to Finishing What She Started, On and Off the Court". University of South Carolina Athletics . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
8. "Ayana Akli Set to Join Women's Tennis Team". University of South Carolina Athletics . May 27, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
9. Kapetanakis, Arthur (October 30, 2023). "Bektas set for Top 100 debut after WTA 125 title; Navarro wins on USTA Pro Circuit". USTA . Retrieved July 8, 2025.
10. Tassé, Michel (July 20, 2024). "La Canadienne Cross affrontera la favorite en finale". Le Soleil (in Canadian French). Retrieved July 8, 2025.
11. Kapetanakis, Arthur (October 8, 2024). "Jovic, Basavareddy lead American singles sweep on USTA Pro Circuit". USTA . Retrieved July 7, 2025.

External links

• Ayana Akli at the Women's Tennis Association
• Ayana Akli at the International Tennis Federation
• Ayana Akli at ESPN.com