Alina Korneeva

Alina Aleksandrovna Korneeva (Алина Александровна Корнеева, born 23 June 2007) is a Russian professional tennis player. In 2023, she won two Grand Slam girls' singles titles at the Australian Open and the French Open and reached world No. 1 in the ITF junior rankings.

2021
Korneeva finished runner-up at the European Junior Championships under-14 girls singles to the Czech player Tereza Valentová.

2022
On the ITF Junior Circuit, in 2022 Korneeva's tally of six singles titles saw her claim the most singles titles in girls’ tennis that year. Korneeva won her first $15k event in Casablanca in September, defeating Laura Hietaranta in the final.

2023: No. 1 junior, WTA Tour debut
Korneeva had success in her junior Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open, reaching the semifinals of the girls' doubles with partner Mirra Andreeva, and defeating Andreeva in three sets in the final of the girls' singles. Before their final, Andreeva said, "She is a really good friend of mine, my best friend." After the match, Korneeva told her on court, "It's not our last battle. We will have a lot of good matches when you will win, when I will win...it was a hard battle." In the quarterfinals of the girls singles, Korneeva defeated second seed Tereza Valentová, who 18 months prior, had defeated Korneeva in the under-14 girls singles final at the European Junior Championships.

In March, Korneeva qualified for the main draw and won the $60k event in Pretoria, defeating Tímea Babos in the final, in straight sets. At age 15 years, eight months and 18 days, Korneeva became the fifth youngest player in history to win an ITF tournament at $60k level or above.

On 1 May, Korneeva reached No. 1 in the ITF junior world rankings.

In June, she won her second junior Grand Slam title, defeating Lucciana Pérez Alarcón in the final of the French Open girls' singles in straight sets, becoming the first player since Magdalena Maleeva in 1990 to win the first two Grand Slam events in girls' singles in the same year. Together with Sara Saito, Korneeva also reached the final of the girls' doubles.

In July, Korneeva qualified for the main draw and won the $100k Figueira da Foz Open, defeating French player Carole Monnet 6–0, 6–0, and becoming the youngest player to win a W100 title. Together with Anastasia Tikhonova, she also reached the final of the same event in doubles.

In October, she qualified for the Hong Kong Open making her WTA Tour debut, and defeated compatriot Valeria Savinykh for her first WTA Tour win.

On 22 October, Korneeva won the 2023 ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals, defeating Sara Saito 6–0, 6–3 in the final.

2024: Major debut and first win
In the last round of qualifying at the Australian Open, Korneeva defeated Anna Bondár in straight sets to qualify for the main draw, making her major debut. She defeated Sara Sorribes Tormo in the first round, before losing in the second round to tenth-seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Personal life
Born in Moscow, Korneeva has been nicknamed the "mini Sharapova" in some quarters. Her father, Aleksandr Korneev, is a former volleyball player who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Korneeva currently trains in Moscow.