Maria Sara Popa (born 29 July 2005) is a Romanian tennis player. She reached No. 1 in the Tennis Europe U14 rankings, in May 2019 and has a career high of No. 9 in the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour junior rankings, achieved in April 2022.
Popa, who began playing at the age of four, has a career-high singles ranking by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) of 395. She is one of only six women who played three ITF singles finals in 2023, at such a young age, winning one of them and is among the world's youngest 20 players in WTA's Top 600. 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 and the only one to have reached No. 1 in the Tennis Europe U14 rankings since 2013. She is coached by her father, Ioan Raul Popa.
The best result she's had in big tournaments so far was in a WTA 125 event held in her hometown. She was awarded a wildcard into the qualifying draw of the 2023 Țiriac Foundation Trophy, based on her results from the local ITF events. She won three matches, before losing to Sara Errani in the round of 16.
ITF Circuit finals
Singles: 6 (4 titles, 2 runner-ups) LegendW25/35 tournaments (1–0)W15 tournaments (3–2)Finals by surfaceClay (4–2) ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 May 2023ITF Antalya, TurkeyW15 Clay Natalia Siedliska 3–6, 2–6Loss 0–2 Jul 2023ITF Bacău, RomaniaW15 Clay Amelie Van Impe 2–6, 1–6Win1–2 Aug 2023ITF Brașov, RomaniaW15 Clay Selma Cadâr 5–7, 6–2, 7–5Win 2–2 Jan 2024ITF Buenos Aires, ArgentinaW35 Clay Ylena In-Albon 6–2, 6–0Win 3–2 Dec 2025ITF Antalya, TurkiyeW15 Clay Sara Bălan 1–0 ret.Win 4–2 Aug 2026ITF Bucharest, RomaniaW15 Clay Ida Wobker 6-4 6-4
Doubles: 1 (title) LegendW15 tournaments (1–0)Finals by surfaceClay (1–0) ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1–0 Dec 2025ITF Antalya, TurkiyeW15 Clay Diae El Jardi Meshkatolzahra Safi Xu Jiayu 6–4, 3–6, [13–11]
ITF Junior Circuit finals LegendCategory G3Category G4Category G5
Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up) ResultW–LDateTournamentGradeSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss0–1Sep 2020ITF Oradea, RomaniaG4Clay Cara Meșter4–6, 7–6(7-0), 5–7Win1–1Jan 2021ITF Antalya, TurkeyG3Clay Melis Uyar 6–3, 6–2
Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up) ResultW–LDateTournamentGradeSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin1–0Sep 2020ITF Constanța, RomaniaG5Clay Vanessa Popa Teiușanu Anca Todoni Floriana Popovici7–5, 6–4Loss1–1Sep 2020ITF Oradea, RomaniaG4Clay Vanessa Popa Teiușanu Ștefania Bojică Cara Meșter0–6, 1–6
Tennis Europe finals and summary Popa won five out of the nine singles finals she played on this circuit and two out of the eight she played in doubles. 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.
Overall singles record: 124-46 (72.9%)
Overall doubles record: 47-27 (63.5%)
UTR Pro Tennis Tour finals and summary 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 and the second one to Alisa Baranovska in June 2023.
Overall record: 8-4 (66.7%), including group stage matches.
References
External links
Maria Sara Popa at Tennis Europe