Ayana Akli (born July 6, 2001) is an American professional tennis player. She has career-high rankings of No. 234 in singles, achieved on April 20, 2026, and world No. 127 in doubles, achieved on June 22, 2026. She played collegiate tennis at the University of Maryland and the University of South Carolina.
Early life Akli was born in Silver Spring, Maryland, to Komi and Linda Akli. Her father is a former professional tennis player who immigrated to the United States from Togo in 1996; he was the childhood coach of Frances Tiafoe. She began playing tennis at the age of four and trained at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park. She attended Wheaton High School, where she was a three-time state champion in girls' singles. She later received a degree in civil engineering from the University of South Carolina.
Career In 2019, Akli signed a letter of intent to play collegiate tennis for the Maryland Terrapins. After two years, she transferred to the University of South Carolina. Playing for the South Carolina Gamecocks, she reached career-high national rankings of No. 3 in singles and No. 10 in doubles. She also received ITA All-American and All-SEC honors and was named the SEC Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
In October 2023, she reached the semifinals of the Christus Health Pro Challenge as a qualifier. In July 2024, she reached the semifinals of the Championnats de Granby as a qualifier. Later that year, she won her first professional doubles title at the W35 USTA Pro Circuit event in Redding, partnering Eryn Cayetano.
ITF Circuit finals Singles: 5 (2 titles, 3 runner-ups) Legend W75 tournaments (0–1) W35 tournaments (2–2) Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent ScoreLoss 0–1 Apr 2025ITF Charlotte, United StatesW35 Clay Alicia Herrero Liñana 1–6, 6–7(1)Loss 0–2 May 2025ITF Boca Raton, USW35 Clay Monika Ekstrand 2–6, 1–6Win 1–2 May 2025ITF Bethany Beach, USW35 Clay Ana Sofía Sánchez 6–2, 7–5Win 2–2 Jun 2026Georgia's Rome Open, USW35 Clay Amelia Honer 7–6(3), 6–4Loss 2–3 Aug 2026Lexington Open, USW75 Hard Anastasia Kulikova 5–7, 4–6
Doubles: 14 (8 titles, 6 runner-ups) Legend W100 tournaments (2–1) W75 tournaments (3–1) W50 tournaments (1–1) W25/35 tournaments (2–2) W15 tournaments (0–1) ResultW–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner OpponentsScoreLoss 0–1 Oct 2023ITF Florence, USW25 Hard Nicole Khirin Abigail Rencheli Alana Smith 6–3, 6–7(9), [6–10]Win 1–1 Sep 2024ITF Redding, USW35 Hard Eryn Cayetano Clervie Ngounoue Himeno Sakatsume 6–2, 6–2Loss 1–2 Jan 2025ITF Palm Coast, USW35 Clay Abigail Rencheli Jasmijn Gimbrère Lisa Zaar 4–6, 6–3, [8–10]Loss 1–3 Mar 2025ITF Hagetmau, FranceW15 Hard Mia Horvit Sarah Iliev Emma Léné 6–7(2), 6–3, [8–10]Loss 1–4 Mar 2025ITF Santo Domingo, Dominican RepublicW50 Hard Clervie Ngounoue Anastasia Tikhonova Mariia Tkacheva 6–7(5), 7–6(2), [7–10]Win 2–4 Apr 2025ITF Boca Raton, USW35 Clay Diae El Jardi Despina Papamichail Gergana Topalova 7–6(1), 7–5Win 3–4 Jun 2025Cary Tennis Classic, United StatesW100 Hard Abigail Rencheli Gabriella Broadfoot Maddy Zampardo 6–3, 6–2Loss 3–5 Jul 2025Evansville Classic, USW100 Hard Victoria Osuigwe Arianne Hartono Prarthana Thombare 3–6, 3–6Win 4–5 Jul 2025Lexington Open, USW75 Hard Eryn Cayetano Elvina Kalieva Alana Smith 4–6, 6–2, [10–4]Win 5–5 Oct 2025Tennis Classic of Macon, United StatesW100 Hard Eryn Cayetano Rasheeda McAdoo Angella Okutoyi 6–7(4), 6–2, [16–14]Loss 5–6 May 2026Zaragoza Open, SpainW75 Clay Lara Salden Yvonne Cavallé Reimers Ángela Fita Boluda 4–6, 4–6Win 6–6 Jul 2026ITF Columbus, United StatesW50 Hard (i) Diae El Jardi Ava Hrastar Victoria Mulville 6–3, 1–6, [10–7]Win 7–6 Jul 2026Lexington Open, USW75 Hard Fiona Crawley Savannah Broadus Kylie Collins 2–6, 7–6(3), [12–10]Win 8–6 Sep 2026The Campus Open, PortugalW75 Hard Reese Brantmeier Kylie Collins Carson Tanguilig 7–5, 6–4
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