Niurka Sodupe (born April 19, 1969) is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player from the United States.

Biography

Sodupe, the daughter of Cuban immigrants, went to

Coral Gables Senior High School Coral Gables Senior High School is a secondary school located at 450 Bird Road in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. The school opened in 1950. Its architectural design reflects a Spanish influence. Open courtyards adorned with water fountain ...

in Coral Gables, Florida. At the age of 15, she was runner-up to

Katerina Maleeva Katerina Georgieva Maleeva (; born 7 May 1969) is a former top 10 Bulgarian tennis player. She won eleven singles and two doubles WTA Tour titles. Her best position in the WTA rankings was No. 6 in 1990. Biography Born in Sofia, Maleeva is t ...

in the girls' singles final at the 1984 US Open. She competed in the juniors again at the US Open the following year and had a win over

Mary Joe Fernández Mary Joe Fernández Godsick (born María José Fernández; August 19, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player, who reached a career-high ranking of world No. 4 in both singles and doubles. In singles, Fernández was the runner-up ...

. She made her WTA main draw debut as a wildcard at the 1985 Lynda Carter Maybelline Classic, where she had a first-round win over eighth-seed

Gigi Fernández Beatriz "Gigi" Fernández (born February 22, 1964) is a Puerto Rican former professional tennis player. Fernández won 17 Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major doubles titles and two Olympic gold medals representing the United States, and reach ...

. Her career best ranking of 108 in the world was attained in the 1986 season. In 1987, she made WTA Tour quarterfinals at the

Puerto Rico Open The Puerto Rico Open is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour that was first played in 2008. It is the only PGA Tour event held in Puerto Rico to date. The tournament is played at the Coco Beach Golf Course (previously Trump Internation ...

and the Virginia Slims of Arkansas. She is now the director and head coach of Tennis Advantage of Miami.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sodupe, Niurka 1969 births Living people American female tennis players Tennis players from Miami American sportspeople of Cuban descent 21st-century American women 20th-century American sportswomen