Maria Sara Popa
| File:Day 1 - Qualifying TransylvaniaOpen Sara Sorribes Tormo vs Maria Sara Popa 6-0,6-3 (54319696787).jpg Popa at the 2025 Transylvania Open | |
| Country (sports) | File:Flag of Romania.svg Romania |
|---|---|
| Residence | Bucharest, Romania |
| Born | 29 July 2005 Bucharest, Romania |
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) |
| Plays | Left-handed (double-handed backhand) |
| Coach | Ioan Raul Popa |
| Prize money | US$53,602 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 120–97 |
| Career titles | 2 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 395 (29 July 2024) |
| Current ranking | No. 441 (9 December 2024) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 16–25 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 938 (22 May 2023) |
| Current ranking | No. 1,274 (9 December 2024) |
| Last updated on: 9 December 2024. | |
Maria Sara Popa (born 29 July 2005)[1] is a Romanian tennis player. She reached No. 1 in the Tennis Europe U14 rankings,[2][3] in May 2019 and has a career high of No. 9 in the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour rankings,[4] achieved in April 2022.
Popa, who began playing at the age of 4, has a career-high singles ranking by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) of 395.[5] She is one of only six women who played three ITF singles finals[6][7][8] in 2023, at such a young age,[9] winning one of them and is among the world's youngest 20 players in WTA's Top 600.[10] Of all the players from her country, Popa holds the record of being the youngest Romanian with an ITF Women's singles final in the last six years[11] and the only one to have reached No. 1 in the Tennis Europe U14 rankings since 2013.[12] She is coached by her father, Ioan Raul Popa.[5]
The best result she's had in big tournaments so far was in a WTA 125 held in her hometown. She was awarded a wild card in the qualifying draw of the 2023 Țiriac Foundation Trophy, based on her results from the local ITFs.[13] She won three matches, before losing to Sara Errani in the round of 16.[14]
ITF Circuit finals
[edit | edit source]Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)
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| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | May 2023 | ITF Antalya, Turkey | W15 | Clay | Germany Natalia Siedliska | 3–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Jul 2023 | ITF Bacău, Romania | W15 | Clay | Belgium Amelie Van Impe | 2–6, 1–6 |
| Win | 1–2 | Aug 2023 | ITF Brașov, Romania | W15 | Clay | Romania Selma Cadâr | 5–7, 6–2, 7–5 |
| Win | 2–2 | Jan 2024 | ITF Buenos Aires, Argentina | W35 | Clay | Error creating thumbnail: Ylena In-Albon | 6–2, 6–0 |
ITF junior finals
[edit | edit source]| Legend |
|---|
| Category GA |
| Category G1 |
| Category G2 |
| Category G3 |
| Category G4 |
| Category G5 |
Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner–up)
[edit | edit source]| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Grade | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Sep 2020 | ITF Oradea, Romania | G4 | Clay | Romania Cara Meșter | 4–6, 7–6(7-0), 5–7 |
| Win | 1–1 | Jan 2021 | ITF Antalya, Turkey | G3 | Clay | Turkey Melis Uyar | 6–3, 6–2 |
Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner–up)
[edit | edit source]| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Grade | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Sep 2020 | ITF Constanța, Romania | G5 | Clay | Romania Vanessa Popa Teiușanu | Romania Anca Todoni Romania Floriana Popovici |
7–5, 6–4 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Sep 2020 | ITF Oradea, Romania | G4 | Clay | Romania Vanessa Popa Teiușanu | Romania Ștefania Bojică Romania Cara Meșter |
0–6, 1–6 |
Tennis Europe finals and summary
[edit | edit source]Popa won five out of the nine singles finals she played on this circuit and two out of the eight she played in doubles.[15] The last title she won in May 2019 was also the title which helped her achieve the No. 1 position in the U14 age category.[3]
Overall singles record: 124-46 (72.9%)
Overall doubles record: 47-27 (63.5%)
UTR Pro Tennis Tour finals and summary
[edit | edit source]The Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) Pro Tennis Tour is an alternative to the WTA and ITF tours. Popa reached the final in both tournaments that she played. She lost the first one to Ioana Gaspar in May 2022[16] and the second one to Alisa Baranovska in June 2023.[17]
Overall record: 8-4 (66.7%), including group stage matches.
References
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External links
[edit | edit source]- Maria Sara Popa at the Women's Tennis AssociationLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Maria Sara Popa at the International Tennis FederationLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Maria Sara Popa at Tennis Europe