Elina Araratovna Avanesyan (Russian: Элина Араратовна Аванесян; Armenian: Էլինա Ավանեսյան; born 17 September 2002) is a Russian professional tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of No. 60 in singles, achieved on 12 February 2024, and No. 223 in doubles, achieved on 29 January 2024.[1] Avanesyan has won five singles and nine doubles titles at tournaments of the ITF Circuit.
She also made her debut at the WTA 1000 level at the Italian Open as a qualifier and also entered the main draw of the new WTA 1000 Guadalajara Open as a lucky loser.
2023: French Open fourth round, top 65
Ranked No. 134, Avanesyan made her debut at the French Open as a lucky loser. In the first round, she upset 12th seed Belinda Bencic for her first major and top-20 win.[7] She defeated French wildcard Léolia Jeanjean in the second round[8] and qualifier Clara Tauson in the third, becoming the first lucky loser at Roland Garros in the last 16 in 35 years since 1988 and only the fifth overall at this major.[9] As a result, she reached the top 80 rising 54 positions in the rankings on 12 June 2023.[10][11]
She made her WTA 500 debut at the German Open also as a lucky loser, and defeated eighth seed Daria Kasatkina. As a result, she reached a new career-high ranking of No. 64, on 26 June 2023.[12]
2024: Australian Open debut, first two top-10 & WTA 1000 wins
On her debut at the Australian Open, she recorded two wins over Bai Zhuoxuan and eighth seed Maria Sakkari, her first top-10 win.[14] On her debut at Indian Wells, she lost to Océane Dodin. Also on her debut at the Miami Open, she recorded her first WTA 1000-level win over wildcard and compatriot Erika Andreeva, and her second top 10 and biggest win of her career, over sixth seed Ons Jabeur, to reach her first third round at this level.[15]
In June 2024, it was announced that Avanesyan began the process of applying for Armenian citizenship and planned to compete under the flag of Armenia.[17] She had previously completed in several junior tournaments in the Armenian capital Yerevan, winning four of them.[2]
Performance timeline
Key
W
F
SF
QF
#R
RR
Q#
P#
DNQ
A
Z#
PO
G
S
B
NMS
NTI
P
NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record; .
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
^It was announced that Avanesyan is in the process of changing her citizenship, but there have been no indications that the process is complete. Furthermore, she has yet to confirm this herself.
^Russian players were barred due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
^ abThe first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Ladies Open since 2009 until 2024. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009 to 2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.