Destanee Aiava has made history as the first female tennis player with Samoan heritage to make it through to the US Open Singles main draw.

The 24-year-old, representing Australia, powered through three matches of straight-set victories against Gergana Topalova, fourth seed Mai Hontama and former top 20 player Ana Konjuh in the main draw qualifying in New York to secure her spot.

It’s also the first time in tournament history that five Australian women have earned main-draw berths through qualifying, and the first time in 11 years that Australia has had qualifiers in both the men’s and women’s events in Flushing Meadows.

However, this is not the first time Aiava has made history. In 2017 at just 16 years old, she made history when she became the first player, male or female, born in 2000 or later to participate in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament.  

She was also the youngest person of Pacific Island heritage to make a Grand Slam appearance when she made her debut at the Australian Open and the second person of Samoan heritage to make a Grand Slam.

Born and raised in Melbourne, Aiava’s mother Rosie was born in American Samoa and played rugby for the Wallaroos. Her father Mark was born in New Zealand to Samoan parents and competed as a powerlifter before switching to personal training.

When Aiava first burst onto the tennis scene as a teenager, her mother was her coach and took her through to her first Grand Slam appearance in 2017.

Since then she has linked with Sydney-based coach and Tennis Australia’s director of the National Tennis Academy, Nicole Kriz, and has recently become engaged to fellow professional tennis player Corey Gaal.

Aiava will make her US Open debut tomorrow at 3:00am AEST against Russian-born Elena Rybakina in the first round.  

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