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Maria Sara Popa

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Maria Sara Popa
Country (sports) Romania
ResidenceBucharest, Romania
Born (2005-07-29) 29 July 2005 (age 19)
Bucharest, Romania
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
PlaysLeft-handed (double-handed backhand)
CoachIoan Raul Popa
Prize moneyUS$41,636
Singles
Career record120–97
Career titles2 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 395 (29 July 2024)
Current rankingNo. 441 (9 December 2024)
Doubles
Career record16–25
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 938 (22 May 2023)
Current rankingNo. 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

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Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

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Legend
W25/35 tournaments (1–0)
W15 tournaments (1–2)
Finals by surface
Clay (2–2)
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 Switzerland Ylena In-Albon 6–2, 6–0

ITF junior finals

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Legend
Category GA
Category G1
Category G2
Category G3
Category G4
Category G5

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner–up)

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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)

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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

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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

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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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  1. ^ "Popa's birth date". on Petits As.
  2. ^ "Tennis Europe - Popa's U14 Ranking". at www.tenniseurope.org.
  3. ^ a b "Romanian pair closes in on ranking top spots". by Tennis Europe. 2019-05-26.
  4. ^ "ITF Women's World Tennis Tour - Popa's Ranking". by the International Tennis Federation.
  5. ^ a b "WTA Official Profile of Maria Sara Popa". at www.wtatennis.com.
  6. ^ "W15 Antalya tournament Draw (ITF Women's World Tennis Tour)". at www.itftennis.com. 2023-05-14.
  7. ^ "W15 Bacău tournament Draw (ITF Women's World Tennis Tour)". at www.itftennis.com. 2023-07-16.
  8. ^ "W15 Brașov tournament Draw (ITF Women's World Tennis Tour)". at www.itftennis.com. 2023-08-26.
  9. ^ Șerban, Teodor (2023-08-27). "The first ITF title! Maria Sara Popa's extraordinary achievements in 2023, having played three finals at barely 18 years of age". on Ziare.com (in Romanian).
  10. ^ "Open Era Live Rankings - Youngest 20 players ranked in WTA's Top 600". at www.openerarankings.com.
  11. ^ Kiarash, Amir (2023-05-16). "A rare result for Romanian tennis: Maria Sara Popa is the 1st to achieve it, after 6 years". on Adevărul (in Romanian).
  12. ^ "Career's result for Maria Sara Popa: what a performance the tennis player has achieved". by Ziare.com (in Romanian). 2022-10-30.
  13. ^ "Turneul carierei: Maria Sara Popa, lăudată de o finalistă de Roland Garros pentru evoluția de la WTA 125 București". by Redacția Adevărul (in Romanian). 2023-09-15.
  14. ^ "Tiriac Foundation Trophy: Errani advances to last eight". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  15. ^ "Tennis Europe - Popa's titles and finals". at www.tenniseurope.org.
  16. ^ "UTR PTT $25K ROU, May 2022 - Draws (Group B)". by UTR, at www.universaltennis.com. 2022-05-22.
  17. ^ "UTR PTT $25K ROU, June 2023 - Draws (Group C)". at www.universaltennis.com. 2023-06-18.
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