Sunitha Rao
![]() Rao at the 2008 Coleman Vision Tennis Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico | |
Country (sports) | ![]() ![]() |
---|---|
Residence | Bradenton, Florida |
Born | (1985-10-27) October 27, 1985 (age 38) Jersey City, New Jersey |
Height | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) |
Turned pro | 2004 |
Retired | 2009 |
Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
Prize money | US$ 238,224 |
Singles | |
Career record | 196–188 |
Career titles | 0 |
Highest ranking | No. 144 (July 7, 2008) |
Grand Slam singles results | |
Australian Open | Q3 (2003, 2005) |
French Open | Q2 (2005, 2006) |
Wimbledon | Q3 (2003) |
US Open | Q3 (2007) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 107–105 |
Career titles | 8 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 108 (May 19, 2008) |
Other doubles tournaments | |
Olympic Games | 2R (2008) |
Sunitha Rao (born October 27, 1985) is an Indian-American former professional tennis player, who represented India in international tournaments. She won eight doubles titles on the ITF Circuit in her career. On July 7, 2008, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 144.[1] On May 19, 2008, she peaked at No. 108 in the doubles rankings.
Playing for India Fed Cup team, she has a win–loss record of 5–6.[2] Rao also is the fourth female tennis player in history representing India to enter the top-200 world rankings, after Nirupama Sanjeev, Shikha Uberoi, and Sania Mirza.
Personal life
Rao was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1985 and was raised by her Indian immigrant parents Manohar and Savithri, who were from Chennai.[3]
Career
2002–2007
Rao played her first WTA Tour match at the 2002 Brasil Open, where she defeated Vanessa Henke in the first round. She was beaten by Anastasia Myskina in the second round.
Rao played at the 2004 Korea Open where she was beaten by Miho Saeki in the first round. Rao participated at the 2005 Internationaux de Strasbourg, but was overpowered by Iveta Benešová in the first round. Then she played at the Sunfeast Open where she beat Neha Uberoi in the first round before falling to Elena Likhovtseva.
She took part at the 2006 Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic, where she lost to Angelique Widjaja in the first round. She also suffered a first-round defeat at the 2006 Sunfeast Open to Nicole Pratt. Rao defeated Sandy Gumulya in the first round of the 2007 Sunfeast Open to advance to the second round where she lost to Anne Keothavong. She then lost in the first round of the 2007 Challenge Bell to Alina Jidkova.
2008
Rao received an entry into the PTT Pattaya Open via a lucky loser spot. She beat Junri Namigata before losing to Ekaterina Bychkova. Then, at the Copa Colsanitas, she lost to Edina Gallovits in the first round.
Rao received the best result of her WTA career at the 2008 DFS Classic in Birmingham. She beat Petra Kvitová (who would be the future world No. 2 and Wimbledon titlist) in the first round and Naomi Cavaday in the second before falling to Alona Bondarenko in the third round.
She partnered with Sania Mirza, representing India in the women's doubles event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[4][5] They got a walkover in round one, but lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina of Russia in round two.
Rao announced retirement from tennis in 2009. She graduated from the Babson College in 2014 and works in the real estate business.[6]
ITF finals
Legend |
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$75,000 tournaments |
$50,000 tournaments |
$25,000 tournaments |
$10,000 tournaments |
Singles (0–7)
Result | No. | Date | Location | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 1. | February 24, 2002 | Mumbai, India | Hard | ![]() | 3–6, 6–7(3–7) |
Loss | 2. | November 10, 2002 | Mexico City | Hard | ![]() | 6–7(2–7), 3–6 |
Loss | 3. | October 17, 2004 | Mackay, Australia | Hard | ![]() | 5–7, 3–6 |
Loss | 4. | October 24, 2004 | Rockhampton, Australia | Hard | ![]() | 0–6, 0–2 ret. |
Loss | 5. | July 8, 2007 | Southlake, United States | Hard | ![]() | 2–6, 5–7 |
Loss | 6. | October 14, 2007 | San Francisco, United States | Hard | ![]() | 1–6, 2–6 |
Loss | 7. | March 22, 2008 | Noida, India | Hard | ![]() | 2–6, 1–6 |
Doubles (8–7)
Result | No. | Date | Location | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 1. | January 18, 2004 | Tampa, United States | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 2–6, 4–6 |
Loss | 2. | May 16, 2004 | Charlottesville, United States | Clay | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 0–6, 1–6 |
Win | 1. | November 14, 2004 | Port Pirie, Australia | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 4–6, 6–3, 7–6(6) |
Win | 2. | November 13, 2005 | Port Pirie, Australia | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–4, 3–6, 6–2 |
Win | 3. | November 27, 2005 | Mount Gambier, Australia | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–1, ret. |
Win | 4. | May 7, 2006 | Charlottesville, United States | Clay | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–7(6), 6–2, 6–3 |
Loss | 3. | July 23, 2006 | Hammond, United States | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–7(3), 6–4, 1–6 |
Loss | 4. | October 8, 2006 | Traralgon, Australia | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 2–6, 6–7(5) |
Win | 5. | October 15, 2006 | Melbourne, Australia | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–3, 6–2 |
Loss | 5. | January 20, 2007 | Fort Walton Beach, United States | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 7–5, 6–7(7), 6–7(4) |
Win | 6. | June 2, 2007 | Carson, United States | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–4, 6–4 |
Win | 7. | June 17, 2007 | Allentown, United States | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–7(3), 6–4, 6–1 |
Loss | 6. | March 14, 2008 | New Delhi, India | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–2, 2–6, [4–10] |
Win | 8. | May 11, 2008 | Zagreb Ladies Open, Croatia | Clay | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–4, 6–2 |
Loss | 7. | October 5, 2008 | Troy, United States | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 2–6, 0–6 |
References
- ^ Das, Rajorshi (October 7, 2021). "The disappearing players of Indian Women's Tennis". Sportskeeda.
- ^ Sunitha Rao at the Billie Jean King Cup
- ^ Sawai, Akshay (March 6, 2002). "Sunitha Rao: Indian promise from US". The Times of India.
- ^ "India names 57-member squad for Beijing Olympics". IBNLive. July 25, 2008. Archived from the original on July 26, 2008. Retrieved July 25, 2008.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Sunitha Rao". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 3, 2016.
- ^ "Net Gain: From Babson to Financial Freedom". entrepreneurship.babson.edu. January 12, 2022.
External links
- Sunitha Rao at the Women's Tennis Association
- Sunitha Rao at the International Tennis Federation
- Sunitha Rao at the Billie Jean Cup
- Sunitha Rao at tennisabstract.com
- Sunitha Rao at ESPN.com
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